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BX  7235  .B3  1917 
Barton,  William  Eleazar, 

1861-1930. 
Congregational  creeds  and 

covenants 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/congregationalcrOObart 


BOOKS  ON 

CONGREGATIONAL  POLITY 

By  WILLIAM  E.  BARTON 


THE  LAW  OF  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE 
A  comprehensive  survey  of  the  entire  field  of  the 
Congregational  system,  as  related  to  the  local 
church,  the  minister,  the  district  association,  the 
state  conference,  the  National  Council,  Councils 
pro  re  nata,  and  the  missionary  organizations; 
with  numerous  citations  from  Congregational  au- 
thorities; the  most  complete  treatise  on  this  sub- 
ject. 

8vo,  pp.  495,  $2.50 


BARTON'S  CONGREGATIONAL  MANUAL 
Four  concise  volumes  in  one.     The  Law  of  De- 
liberative Assemblies;  Congregational  Theory  and 
Practice;    Compendium   of   Forms;    and    Book   of 
Public  Services. 
Flexible  Leather,  for  the  Pocket;  pp.  310,  $1.50 


CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 
Crown  8vo,  pp.  360,  $1.75 


For  Sale  by 

ADVANCE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Chicago 

THE  PURITAN  PRESS 
Sublette,  Illinois 


CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS 

AND 

COVENANTS 

BY 
WILLIAM  E.  BARTON.  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


Professorial  Lecturer  in  Ecclesiastical  Law  in  Chicago  Theological 
Seminary,  affiliated  with  the  University  of  Chicago;  Minister  of 
the  First  Church  of  Oak  Park;  Editor  of  "The  Advance";  Author 
of  "The  Congregational  Manual,"  "The  Law  of  Congregational 
Usage,"  etc. 


ADVANCE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

1917 


COPYRIGHT   1917 
ADVANCE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


PREFACE 

There  exists  one  monumental  work  on  "The  Creeds  and  Plat- 
forms of  Congregationalism"  by  Prof.  Williston  Walker.  To  that 
work  and  the  books  listed  in  its  Bibliography  as  well  as  to  some 
later  books,  the  author  of  the  present  work  is  deeply  indebted. 
There  is  need,  however,  of  an  inexpensive  and  popular  book  setting 
forth  our  general  position  as  a  denomination  with  reference  to 
creedal  statements,  and  containing  the  texts  of  those  confessions  of 
faith  which  have  received  from  time  to  time  the  endorsement  of 
Congregationalists,  particularly  in  America.  The  student  who 
wishes  to  make  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  subject  will  still  need 
Prof.  Walker's  great  book;  but  both  ministers  and  laymen  need  a 
smaller  work,  such  as  this  undertakes  to  be.  Dr.  Walker's  book 
appeared  in  1893,  and  completed  its  admirable  recital  with  the 
adoption  of  the  Commission's  creed  of  1883.  A  whole  generation 
has  passed  since  then,  and  there  are  important  supplements  to  be 
added  to  the  history. 

Dr.  Walker's  great  book  deals  with  Congregational  Creeds  and 
Platforms.  The  present  work  contains  no  study  of  platforms  or 
systems  of  government,  that  subject  having  been  treated  in  the 
author's  "The  Law  of  Congregational  Usage"  and  in  his  "Congrega- 
tional Manual;"  but  the  present  volume  is  concerned  with  Congre- 
gational covenants,  as  well  as  with  its  creeds. 

This  book  had  been  writtem  and  was  thought  to  be  ready  for 
the  press  when  the  author  discovered  an  entirely  unexpected  fund 
of  information  on  the  subject  of  church  covenants  in  "The  Church 
Covenant  Idea"  by  Champlin  Burrage,  published  in  1904  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society.  The  author  was  familiar 
with  Mr.  Burrage's  other  contributions  to  the  literature  of  the  early 
Anabaptists,  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  but  singularly  had  never  heard 
of  this  important  monograph.  Since  obtaining  it,  however,  he  has 
considerably  enlarged  the  section  devoted  to  "Church  Covenants," 
availing  himself  freely  of  the  material  collected  by  Mr.  Burrage. 

In  addition  to  these,  and  the  standard  books  on  Congregational 
history  and  polity,  the  author  Is  indebted  to   Schaff's  Creeds  of 

5 


6      CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Christendom,  three  volumes;  to  The  History  of  Creeds  and  Confes- 
sions, by  Prof.  W.  A.  Curtis,  of  Aberdeen;  and  to  Prof.  Briggs' 
suggestive  volume  on  Theological  Symbolics.  The  quotations  from 
various  authorities  on  the  ethics  of  creed  subscription  are  acknow- 
ledged in  their  proper  places  in  the  text.  But  the  author's  largest 
debt  is  to  several  hundred  ministers  and  other  scholars  who,  at 
the  author's  request,  have  sent  to  him  copies  of  confessions  and 
covenants  from  every  part  of  the  United  States  and  from  other 
countries,  together  with  statements  as  to  local  usage  with  reference 
to  their  employment  in  worship  and  confession. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book,  not  only  to  bring  down  to  date 
the  story  of  our  Congregational  covenants  and  confessions  of  faith, 
but  to  put  into  the  hands  of  our  ministers  and  laymen  what  the 
author  hopes  will  be  a  helpful  treatise  on  the  rightful  place  of 
creeds  and  their  possible  use  and  abuse  in  Congregational  churches. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PART  ONE 

CONGREGATIONAL  COVENANTS 

I.  Creeds  and  Covenants 9 

II.  The   Covenant  Idea 18 

III.  The  Scotch  Covenants 24 

IV.  Early  English  Covenants 29 

V.     The  Pilgrim  Covenant 48 

VI.     Church  and  Community  Covenants   ...  51 

VII.     Early  American  Covenants 59 

VIII.     The  Half  Way  Covenant     ......  67 

IX.     The  Value  of  the  Covenant 74 

X.     Covenants  Old  and  New 79 

PART  TWO 

CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS 

I.     Early  Congregational  Creeds 105 

II.  Local  Church  Creeds 112 

III.  The  Confessions  of  1648  and  1680  ....  119 

IV.  The  Burial  Hill  Confession 142 

V.     The  Oberlin  Declaration 161 

VI.     The  Creed  of  1883 173 

7 


CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 


VII.  English  and  Canadian  Declarations 

VIII.  The  Dayton  Declaration     . 

IX.  The  Kansas  City  Creed  of  1913  . 

X.  A  Summary  of  Congregational  Usage 


180 
197 
203 
206 


PART  THREE 

CREEDS  AND  CONSCIENCES 

I.  Creeds  :  Their  Use  and  Abuse     . 

II.  The  Ethics  of  Creed  Subscription  . 

III.  Creeds  and  the  Second  Commandment 

IV.  The  Repeal  of  Obsolete  Creeds  . 
V.  A  Testimony,  Not  A  Test     . 

VI.    A  Symposium  on  Church  Membership 
VII.    The  Minister  and  Creed  Subscription 


228 
247 
273 
283 
292 
304 
326 


PART  ONE 
CONGREGATIONAL  COVENANTS 


I.  THE  CREED  AND  THE  COVENANT 

A  Congregational  church  is  not  necessarily  a  church  of 
Congregationalists ;  it  is  a  church  of  Christians,  Congrega- 
tionally  governed.  The  earliest  Congregational  churches  pos- 
sessed no  formal  confessions  of  faith.  The  church  in  Wenham, 
Massachusetts,  had  a  confession  as  early  as  1644,  and  that  of 
Winthrop,  Connecticut,  adopted  one  in  1647,  but  the  general 
habit  of  including  a  creed  in  the  constitution  of  a  Congrega- 
tional church  originated  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  the  Unitarian  controversy  sharply  defined,  and 
in  some  instances  over-emphasized,  the  lines  of  Christian 
dogma,  dividing  the  adherents  of  that  communion  from  their 
brethren  in  the  historic  Congregational  churches. 

The  absence  of  formal  confessions  of  faith  was  not  in 
anywise  due  to  carelessness)  on  the  part  of  the  early  Congre- 
gationalists as  to  what  their  members  should  believe.  Examina- 
tions for  admission  to  the  church  were  often  somewhat  rigid, 
though  ordinarily  were  made  flexible,  and  adjusted  to  the  age, 
experience  and  condition  of  persons  uniting  with  the  church. 
Candidates  for  church  fellowship  sometimes  were  examined 
before  the  whole  church  membership,  though  more  frequently 
examinations  were  held  in  private.  We  are  reliably  informed 
by  Captain  Johnson  in  his  '' Wonder- Working  Providence" 
that  examinations  were  less  severe,  not  only  in  the  case  of 

9 


10     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

young  people  and  of  women,  but  also  of  men  who  were  bashful 
and  not  accustomed  to  speaking  in  public.  The  Cambridge 
Platform  definitely  declared  that  severity  of  examination  was 
to  be  avoided,  and  that  "the  weakest  measure  of  faith  is  to 
be  accepted. ' '  Doubtless  the  examinations  would  have  seemed 
severe  if  compared  to  the  methods  in  vogue  at  the  present  day, 
but  we  are  not  left  in  doubt  as  to  their  theory  and  intention. 

Church  membership  in  primitive  Congregationalism  was 
based  not  on  the  acceptance  of  a  formal  creed,  but  on  assent 
to  a  covenant.  Some  of  the  covenants  contained  brief  sum- 
maries of  doctrine,  but  even  this  was  exceptional.  The  Scrooby 
church  was  organized  on  the  basis  of  a  covenant  of  its  mem- 
bers "to  walk  together  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  made  known 
or  to  be  made  known  to  them,  whatever  it  should  cost  them, 
the  Lord  assisting  them."  The  church  at  Salem  was  organ- 
ized with  thirty  members,  each  one  of  whom  was  presented 
with  a  written  copy  of  the  Covenant,  penned  by  the  pastor. 
Rev.  Francis  Higginson,  as  follows: 

"We  covenant  with  the  Lord  and  one  with  another,  and 
do  bind  ourselves,  in  the  presence  of  God,  to  walk  together  in 
all  His  ways,  according  as  He  is  pleased  to  reveal  himself 
unto  us  in  his  blessed  "Word  of  Truth." 

The  church  in  Charlestown,  which  became  the  First 
church  in  Boston,  was  organized  on  the  basis  of  the  covenant 
of  its  members  "to  walk  in  all  our  ways  according  to  the  rule 
of  the  Gospel,  and  in  all  sincere  conformity  to  his  holy  ordi- 
nances, and  in  mutual  love  and  respect  each  to  the  other,  so 
near  as  God  shall  give  us  grace. ' ' 

The  Church  in  New  Haven  was  organized  on  the  basis 
of  a  similar  covenant,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  of  New  England  generally. 

Prof.  Walker  says,  "In  general,  these  fundamental  cove- 
nants were  remarkably  free  from  doctrinal  expression,  being 
usually  a  simple  promise  to  walk  in  fidelity  to  the  Divine 
commandment  and  in  Christian  faithfulness  one  to  another. 


THE  CREED  AND  THE  COVENANT  11 

Nor  was  anything  of  peculiar  sanctity  supposed  to  lie  in  the 
form  of  words  adopted  at  the  beginning.  Such  covenants  were 
renewed,  made  more  explicit  against  definite  forms  of  preva- 
lent sin,  or  otherwise  amended,  with  much  freedom,  to  meet 
the  exigencies  of  ecclesiastical  life.  In  fact,  it  was  widely  the 
custom  for  each  new  minister  to  draught  the  particular  agree- 
ment to  which  he  took  the  assent  of  candidates  for  church 
membership,  without  necessarily  submitting  his  form  of  words 
to  the  approval  of  the  church.  The  essential  matter  was  the 
agreement,  not  its  verbal  expression. ' '  ( Walker 's  ' '  Congrega- 
tionalists,"  p.  218.) 

One  of  the  most  elaborate  of  these  early  covenants  was 
that  of  the  church  at  Woburn,  adopted  in  1642,  and  reported 
by  Captain  Johnson  in  his  '' Wonder- Working  Providence," 
which  he  accompanies  with  the  statement  "Every  church 
hath  not  the  same  for  words,  for  they  are  not  for  a  form  of 
words. ' '    The  following  is  the  Woburn  covenant : 

We  that  do  assemble  ourselves  this  day  before  God  and  his 
people,  in  an  unfeigned  desire  to  be  accepted  of  Him  as  a  Church 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  rule  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, do  acknowledge  ourselves  to  be  the  most  unworthy  of  all 
others  that  we  should  attain  such  a  high  grace,  and  the  most  unable 
of  ourselves  to  the  performance  of  any  thing  that  is  good,  abhorring 
ourselves  for  all  our  former  defilements  in  the  worship  of  God,  and 
other  ways,  and  relying  only  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  atone- 
ment, and  upon  the  power  of  his  grace  for  the  guidance  of  our 
whole  after  course,  do  here  in  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus,  as  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  from  the  bottom  of  our  hearts  agree  together 
through  his  grace  to  give  up  our  selves,  first  unto  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  our  only  King.  Priest  and  Prophet,  wholly  to  be  subject  unto 
him  in  all  things,  and  therewith  one  unto  another,  as  in  a  Church- 
Body  to  walk  together  in  all  the  Ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  and  In 
all  such  mutual  love  and  offices  thereof,  as  toward  one  another  in 
the  Lord;  and  all  this,  both  according  to  the  present  light  that  the 
Lord  hath  given  us,  as  also  according  to  all  further  light,  which 
He  shall  be  pleased  at  any  time  to  reach  out  unto  us  out  of  the 
Word  by  thet  Goodness  of  his  grace,  renouncing  also  in  the  same 
Covenant  all  errors  and  Schisms,  and  whatsoever  byways  that 
are  contrary  to  the  blessed  rules  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  and  in 
particular  the  inordinate  love  and  seeking  after  the  things  of  the 
world. — Johnson's  "Wonder-Working  Providence,"  p.  216. 


12     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Not  till  1826,  when  Nathaniel  Emmons  published  his 
"Scriptural  Platform  of  Ecclesiastical  Government"  did  any 
considerable  group  of  Congregational  churches  found  their 
organization  on  a  theory  that  the  local  church  is  a  voluntary 
club,  which  may  rightfully  adopt  sectarian  creeds,  expressive 
of  the  faith  of  its  members  as  separate  from  that  of  Chris- 
tians in  general,  and  designed  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
other  Christians  out.  Dr.  Leonard  Woolsey  Bacon  subjects 
this  departure  from  historic  Congregationalism  to  merciless 
and  just  criticism,  maintaining  that  it  was  nothing  less  than 
a  secession  from  historic  Congregationalism  on  the  part  of  cer- 
tain orthodox  churches  in  Eastern  IVIassachusetts.  He  said, 
"Not  only  did  the  use  of  imposed  and  prescribed  doctrinal 
tests  (so  abhorrent  to  the  fathers)  come  into  general  use;  but 
the  new  churches  were  distinctly  labelled  'Trinitarian'  or 
*  Calvinistic ; '  and  it  came  to  be  considered  quite  laudable,  by 
stipulations  in  the  covenant,  to  elect  churches  on  an  anti- 
slavery,  or  total  abstinence,  or  prohibitionist  basis." — "The 
Congregationalists, "  pp.  224,  5. 

In  the  beginning  it  was  not  so.  Richard  Mather  says 
that  churches  "may  have  a  platform  by  way  of  a  profession 
of  their  faith,  but  not  a  binding  rule  of  faith  and  practice." 
Burton  in  his  rejoinder  to  Prynne  says:  "It  is  the  greatest 
possible  tyranny  over  men's  souls  to  make  other  men's  judg- 
ments the  rule  of  my  conscience. ' '  Cotton  Mather  says,  ' '  The 
churches  of  New  England  make  only  vital  piety  the  terms  of 
communion  among  them ;  and  they  all  with  delight,  see  godly 
Congregationalists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Anti-pedo 
Baptists,  and  Lutherans,  all  members  of  the  same  churches." 
To  this  agree  the  early  fathers  in  practical  unanimous  tes- 
timony. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  if  Congregationalism  had  continued 
to  be  the  only  church  in  New  England,  and  from  thence  had 
spread  westward  into  communities  where  it  should  have  had 
no  need  to  differentiate  itself  from  other  denominations,  very 


THE  CREED  AND  THE  COVENANT  13 

few  Congregational  churches  would  ever  have  adopted  formal 
confessions  of  faith.  They  would  have  remained  content  with 
covenants  of  exceeding  brevity,  elasticity  and  simplicity,  and 
would  have  referred  for  the  expression  of  their  faith  in  creedal 
form  to  almost  any  convenient  and  well  known  declaration  of 
faith  ' '  for  the  substance  thereof. ' ' 

When  local  pastors  prepared  confessions  of  faith  for  their 
own  use,  they  were  rarely  adopted  by  the  church,  but  were 
used  as  convenient  summaries  of  expression  to  be  submitted  to 
prospective  members  in  order  to  assist  them  in  the  fonnulation 
of  their  own  views  and  not  as  creedal  tests  on  the  basis  of 
whose  acceptance  or  denial  Christians  were  to  be  admitted  or 
excluded. 

The  Unitarian  controversy  greatly  modified  the  historic 
relationship  of  Congregationalism  to  creedal  statements,  and 
the  spread  of  the  Congregational  denomination  outside  of  New 
England  into  communities  where  it  came  into  direct  relations 
with  other  and  more  highly  organized  churches  made  it  in- 
advisable longer  to  refer  to  the  confessions  of  1648  and  1680 
as  adequately  or  even  vaguely  representing  the  faith  of  mod- 
ern Congregationalism.  Creedal  fonns  became  a  practical 
working  necessity,  but  that  fact  in  no  way  commits  the  de- 
nomination to  the  policy  of  creedal  tests.  Creeds  in  Congre- 
gationalism are  definitely  used  as  a  testimony  and  not  as  a  test. 

The  relations  of  an  individual  church  member  to  the 
declaration  of  faith  either  of  a  local  church  or  of  his  denomi- 
nation are  not  unlike  those  of  a  voter  to  his  party  platform. 
The  platform  does  not  in  any  wise  undertake  to  tell  what  every 
member  of  the  party  thinks  on  every  possible  question  at  issue 
before  the  American  people.  It  does  endeavor  to  set  forth 
the  general  attitude  of  the  party  as  a  whole  toward  the  more 
prominent  of  those  questions,  leaving  the  individual  voter  very 
wide  latitude  of  judgment  with  reference  to  particular  ques- 
tions, even  including  those  which  are  treated  in  the  platform. 
In  like  manner  it  is  the  theory  of  the  Congregational  churches. 


14     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

and  was  so  in  the  beginning,  that  a  Congregational  church 
should  be  inclusive  of  all  true  Christian  men  and  women  and 
children  in  the  community.  Cotton  Mather  expressed  with 
pride  the  favor  with  which  the  New  England  churches  re- 
garded their  "variety  in  unity." 

A  confession  of  faith  may  be  a  very  useful  or  a  very 
harmful  thing.  In  the  main,  our  Congregational  churches 
have  stood  in  wholesome  fear  of  creedal  forms.  Almost  any 
Congregational  church  would  prefer  to  have  no  creed  rather 
than  a  creed  to  use  as  a  test  of  fellowship,  or  a  creed  that  could 
not  be  changed.  The  only  notable  exceptions  to  this  general 
rule  of  Congregational  practice  are  those  which  grew  out  of 
the  Unitarian  controversy  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Congregational  churches  have  always  sought  to  be 
obedient  to  the  rule  of  God  and  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
people,  but  have  earnestly  objected  to  the  spiritual  tyranny  of 
men,  either  living  or  dead,  imposed  upon  them  by  any  kind  of 
ecclesiastical  authority.  Whatever  consent  Congregational- 
ists  give  to  confessions  of  faith,  either  local  or  general,  must 
be  in  essential  accord  with,  and  definitely  limited  by,  these 
distinctive  historical  principles. 

It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  of  the  earlier  Congregational 
confessions  that  their  doctrinal  portions  were  little  more  than 
footnotes  to  their  declarations  of  polity.  New  England  Con- 
gregationalists  were  not  experienced  creed-makers,  but  they 
had  much  practice  in  defining  their  principles  of  church  gov- 
ernment. They  considered  doctrine  to  be  of  more  consequence 
than  discipline,  but  they  never  regarded  their  Christian  faith 
as  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  great  body  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  Reformed  churches,  while  they  did  regard  their 
form  of  government  as  their  distinctive  heritage  and  an  im- 
portant part  of  their  legacy  to  the  world.  They  very  readily 
accepted,  one  after  the  other,  the  Westminster  and  Savoy  Con- 
fessions, rather  than  be  bothered  with  making  creeds  of  their 
own. 


THE  CREED  AND  THE  COVENANT  15 

The  Savoy  Confession  was  practically  identical  with  the 
Westminster  standards,  excepting  as  to  church  government. 
These  two  symbols  were  readily  accepted  for  substance  of 
doctrine  in  New  England,  partly  because  Congregationalists 
for  the  most  part  were  Calvinists  and  essentially  like-minded 
with  Presbyterians,  and  with  English  Congregationalists,  but 
none  the  less  because  they  were  ready  to  assent  in  general 
terms  to  almost  any  orthodox  creed.  Having  thus  easily  dis- 
posed of  the  question  of  doctrine,  they  proceeded  to  argue 
about  polity.  The  eighth  article  of  the  "Heads  of  Agreement," 
established  in  England  in  1692,  and  adopted  at  Saybrook,  in 
1708,  says: 

As  to  what  appertains  to  the  soundness  of  judgment  in  matters 
of  faith,  we  esteem  it  sufficient  that  a  church  acknowledge  the 
Scriptures  to  be  the  Word  of  God,  the  perfect  and  only  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  own  either  the  doctrinal  part  of  those  commonly 
called  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  the  Confession  or 
Catechisms,  shorter  or  longer,  compiled  by  the  assembly  at  West- 
minister, or  the  confession  agreed  on  at  the  Savoy,  to  be  agreeable 
to  the  said  rule. 

The  Westminster  or  Savoy  Confessions,  or  that  of  the 
Church  of  England,  any  one  of  them  would  answer  for  sub- 
stance of  doctrine. 

They  affinned  all  creeds  with  a  certain  latitude,  declaring 
as  in  the  preface  to  the  Saybrook  Confession : 

It  was  the  Glory  of  our  fathers,  that  they  heartily  professed 
the  only  Rule  of  their  Religion  from  the  very  first  to  be  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  according  whereunto,  so  far  as  they  were  persuaded, 
that  intelligent  Inquiry,  Solicitous  search,  and  faithful  Prayer  con- 
formed was  for  Faith,  their  Worship  together  with  the  whole  Ad- 
ministration of  the  House  of  Christ,  and  their  manners,  allowance 
being  given  to  human  Failures  and  Imperfections. 

But  they  were  averse  to  forcing  their  confessions  on 
others  or  having  other  confessions  forced  upon  themselves. 

In  the  preface  to  the  Savoy  declaration  it  is  declared  that 
a  Confession  is — 

To  be  looked  upon  as  a  meet  or  fit  medium,  or  means,  whereby 
to  express  that  their  common  faith  and  salvation,  and  no  way  to 


16     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

be  made  use  of  as  an  imposition  upon  any.  Whatever  is  of  force 
or  constrained  in  matters  of  this  nature  causeth  them  to  degenerate 
from  the  name  and  nature  of  Confessions  and  turns  them  from 
being  Confessions  of  Faith,  into  exactions  and  impositions  of  faith. 

Congregationalists  have  many  creeds,  but  no  creed. 
There  is  a  sense  in  which  they  accept  the  substance  of  all 
creeds ;  but  they  have  uniformly  refused  to  accept  the  author- 
ity of  any  creed.  xVny  Congregational  Church  is  at  liberty  to 
accept  any  creed  it  chooses,  keep  it  as  long  as  it  likes,  modify 
it  when  it  is  convinced  of  a  larger  truth,  and  discard  it  when 
it  is  ready.  There  is  no  central  or  superior  body  which  can 
impose  a  creed  on  a  Congregational  church,  neither  is  there 
any  body  which  can  forbid  a  Congregational  Church  to  employ 
a  creed  if  it  chooses.  Thomas  Welde,  first  pastor  of  the 
Church  in  Roxbury^  stated  in  1644  what  is  recognized  as  the 
essential  attitude  of  Congregational  churches : 

' '  We  hold  it  not  unlawful  to  have  a  platform ;  yet  we  see 
no  ground  to  impose  such  a  platform  on  churches,  but  leave 
them  their  liberty  therein. ' '  When  Rathband,  to  whose  criti- 
cisms Welde  replied,  expressed  wonder  at  the  uniformity  of 
organization  and  faith  of  Congregational  churches,  and  "how 
the  New  England  Churches  fell  into  so  exact  a  discipline  with- 
out a  platform,"  Welde  replied  that  they  had,  indeed,  a  plat- 
form, the  best  and  most  consistent  on  earth,  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures.   The  Boston  Confession  of  1680  held  that, 

God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  Conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from 
all  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men  which  are  in  any  wise 
contrary  to  his  word  or  not  contained  in  it:  so  that  to  believe  such 
doctrines,  or  to  obey  such  commands  is  to  betray  true  liberty  of 
conscience;  and  the  requiring  of  an  implicit  faith,  and  an  absolute 
and  blind  obedience,  is  to  destroy  liberty  of  conscience,  and  reason 
also,  J  r'i«^ 


On  the  whole,  Congregationalists  find  it  a  convenience  to 
have  written  creeds.  Churches  that  have  no  such  written  con- 
fessions have  to  spend  a  great  deal  more  time  in  expositions 
of  their  unwritten  creeds.     If  a  Congregationalist  is  asked, 


THE  CREED  AND  THE  COVENANT  17 

"What,  in  general,  do  Congregationalists  believes?"  he  will 
answer,  "There  is  no  man  or  ecclesiastical  body  that  has  any 
right  to  put  the  Congregational  denomination  on  record  in 
answer  to  that  question ;  but  broadly  speaking,  Congregation- 
alists  hold  the  evangelical  faith  common  to  Christian 
Churches,  and  have  from  time  to  time  expressed  that  faith  in 
confessions  that  they  use  as  a  testimony  and  not  as  a  test. ' ' 

The  brief  confession  of  faith  which  was  adopted  as  a  part 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  National  Council  is  prefaced  by  a 
recognition  of  the  "steadfast  allegiance  of  the  Churches  com- 
posing this  Council  to  the  faith  which  our  fathers  confessed, 
which  from  age  to  age  has  found  its  expression  in  the  historic 
creeds  of  the  Church  universal  and  of  this  communion."  It 
deliberately  avoids  confessing  faith  in  those  creeds,  but  ac- 
cepts the  faith  which,  imperfectly  and  progressively,  was  ex- 
pressed in  them  all.  It  then  adds  a  brief  and  comprehensive 
confession,  which,  in  a  broad  and  general  sense,  may  be  said 
to  contain  the  statement  of  faith  in  those  doctrines  which  Con- 
gregationalists  in  general  count  of  especial  importance,  and 
which  they  assume  as  the  basis  of  their  fellowship  in  their  Na- 
tional Council. 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  of  the  National 
Council  with  its  brief  declaration  of  faith,  many  churches 
have  been  revising  their  form  of  admission  of  members,  and 
there  has  been  increased  discussion  as  to  the  place  of  creeds 
and  confessions  of  faith  in  Congregational  polity. 


II.    THE  COVENANT  IDEA 

How  did  any  chiu'ch  come  to  be  organized  on  the  basis  of 
a  covenant?  The  ans-vver  is  full  of  interest,  and  of  large  im- 
portance to  the  student  of  Congregational  history.  Before  the 
Reformation  there  had  been  a  church  which  assumed  its  right 
to  exist  in  view  of  the  alleged  succession  of  its  bishops  from 
the  apostles,  the  Bishop  of  Rome  holding  the  keys  by  right  of 
his  assumed  tactical  and  spiritual  descent  from  Peter.  Fol- 
lowing the  Reformation,  state-churches  prevailed,  holding 
their  title  either  by  will  of  the  civil  authority,  or  of  some  re- 
lation betAveen  it  and  the  spiritual  lordship  of  the  land.  Into 
such  churches  men  were  born;  no  covenant  was  necessary  to 
establish  their  membership,  though  baptism  and  confirmation 
involved  a  recognition  of  the  individual's  relation  to  the  sys- 
tem. What  caused  any  group  of  men  to  believe,  as  the  fathers 
of  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  churches  certainl}'^  did  be- 
lieve, in  church  membership  as  established  in  a  personal  and 
mutual  covenant?  When  these  men  revolted,  as  they  did 
revolt,  against  the  idea  of  membership  in  the  church  as  estab- 
lished by  civil  authority  and  including  certain  masses  of  men 
and  women  by  the  accident  of  birth,  how  did  it  occur  that 
these  founders  of  new  churches,  did  not  affirai,  as  very  natur- 
ally they  might  have  done,  that  the  basis  of  church  member- 
ship was  assent  to  a  creed  ? 

This  question  has  received  altogether  inadequate  attention 
among  Congregational  scholars.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr. 
Champlin  Burrage  for  the  largest  collection  of  data  bearing 
upon  this  question.  In  his  little  book,  ' '  The  Covenant  Idea, ' ' 
published  by  American  Baptist  Publication  Society  in  1904, 
is  a  collection  of  material  gathered  from  the  libraries  of  Lon- 

18 


X 


THE   COVENANT   IDEA  19 

don,  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  which  is  freely  drawn  upon  in 
the  following  pages. 

The  first  suggestion  of  a  church  covenant  came  to  the 
Congregational  and  Anabaptist  fathers  from  the  study  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Far  back  as  the  story  of  the  flood  is  the  idea, 
and  the  use  of  the  word  as  establishing  a  relationship  between 
God  and  man.  God  said  to  Noah  before  the  coming  of  the 
flood  "I  will  establish  my  covenant  with  thee;  and  thou  shalt 
come  into  the  ark,  thou,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy  wife,  and  thy 
sons'  wives  with  thee."  (Gen.  6:  18).  After  the  flood  this 
promise  is  recorded,  "And  I  will  establish  my  covenant  with 
you ;  neither  shall  all  flesh  be  cut  off  any  more  by  the  waters 
of  the  flood ;  neither  shall  there  any  more  be  a  flood  to  destroy 
the  earth.  And  God  said.  This  is  the  token  of  the  covenant 
which  I  make  between  me  and  you  and  every  living  creature 
that  is  with  you,  for  perpetual  generations :  I  do  set  my  bow 
in  the  cloud,  and  it  shall  be  for  a  token  of  a  covenant  between 
me  and  the  earth."     (Gen.  9:  11-13). 

In  even  more  intimate  fashion  the  covenant  of  Abraham 
suggested  God's  relationship  to  the  individual  soul  and  to  a 
people  established  in  a  perpetual  relationship  with  their  God. 
Abraham  was  perhaps  the  first  human  being  who  consciously 
chose  his  God,  and  made  a  religion  other  than  that  in  which 
he  had  been  born  his  own  by  a  solemn  covenant  with  Jehovah. 
The  people  of  Israel  claimed  Jehovah  as  their  God,  not  only 
because  of  his  tribal  relationship  to  their  nation  and  its  land, 
but  because  of  Jehovah's  covenant  with  the  patriarchs  re- 
newed in  solemn  assemblies  in  later  generations. 

Had  the  early  Puritans  known  the  customs  of  Oriental 
lands  as  they  have  been  studied  by  modern  scholars,  and  could 
they  have  possessed  such  material  as  Dr.  H.  Clay  Trumbull 
assembled  in  his  two  painstaking  volumes,  "The  Blood  Cove- 
nant" and  "The  Threshold  Covenant"  they  would  have 
known  how  widespread  among  the  ancient  peoples,  even  before 


20     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

the  time  of  Abraham,  was  the  idea  of  a  covenant  between 
God  and  man. 

These  various  Old  Testament  references  abundantly  jus- 
tifies a  high  regard  for  a  covenant  relation  between  God  and 
the  human  soul,  and  the  idea  received  a  further  emphasis  in 
the  classic  passages  in  Jeremiah,  in  one  of  which  Judah  is  de- 
nounced for  not  keeping  the  covenant  ( Jer,  11 :  1-8)  and  in 
the  other  of  which  there  is  the  promise,  quoted  and  amplified 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  of  a  New  Covenant  (Jer.  31 : 
31-34 ;  Hebrews  8  :  8-13) .  These  references  are  commemorated 
in  the  very  names  by  which  we  call  the  two  divisions  of  books 
of  the  Bible,  The  Old  Covenant,  and  the  New  Covenant. 

The  Jews,  who  counted  themselves  the  covenant  people, 
may  at  times  have  lost  the  sense  of  an  indivdual  relationship 
in  that  of  the  clan  or  tribe  or  nation,  but  when  they  admitted 
Gentiles  into  their  fellowship,  they  recognized  the  individual- 
ity of  the  covenant  idea ;  for  their  proselytes  became  so  by  a 
covenant.  This  custom,  known  to  the  early  Christians,  had  its 
influence  in  the  establishment  of  their  covenants. 

The  founders  of  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  churches 
were  not  students  of  comparative  religion ;  but  they  were  stu- 
dents of  the  Old  Testament,  and  they  believed  that  the  cove- 
nant of  God  with  the  Patriarchs  was  a  valid  precedent  for  a 
covenant  relation  with  his  people  and  their  children  to  all 
generations. 

But  wliile  the  early  Puritans  were  students  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment they  derived  their  polity  almost  wholly  from  the  New 
Testament,  and  while  they  did  not  find  in  the  New  Testament 
the  same  emphasis  upon  the  word  covenant  which  is  so  prom- 
inent in  the  Old,  the  lack  of  the  word  in  no  wise  daunted  them, 
and  they  believed  they  found  the  essential  idea  in  New  Testa- 
ment polity.  In  this  they  probably  were  right ;  and  there  are 
clear  indications  of  the  employment  of  a  covenant  in  the  usage 
of  the  early  church.    On  this  Burrage  says — 


THE   COVENANT    IDEA  21 

Yet  though  the  church  covenant  idea,  as  it  is  known  to 
us,  does  not  seem  definitely  to  appear  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  though  the  term  covenant  employed  in  relation  to  a  Chris- 
tian church  is  evidently  of  comparatively  late  date,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  in  Asia  Minor,  very  early  in  the  Christian 
era,  namely,  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Trajan  (a.  d. 
98-117),  there  were  Christians  who  seem  to  have  made  use 
of  an  idea  practically  equivalent  to,  though  earlier  and  there- 
fore naturally  more  informal  than,  the  church  covenant  idea 
of  later  times.  This  fact  is  clearly  manifested  in  the  well- 
known  letter  of  Pliny  the  Younger  to  the  Emperor  Trajan 
(written  about  the  year  a.  d.  112),  in  which  he  says  "that 
they  [the  Christians  of  that  time  in  Pliny's  domain]  bound 
themselves  by  an  oath  at  their  meetings  not  to  be  guilty  of 
theft,  or  robbery,  or  adultery,  or  the  violation  of  their  word 
or  pledge. ' '  This  oath  resembles  the  earliest  church  covenants 
of  later  times,  though,  of  course,  the  term  covenant  was  not 
used. 

"It  seems  highly  probable  that  other  examples  of  early 
church  oaths  are  to  be  found  in  the  remaining  literature  of 
the  period  contained  either  in  the  reported  confessions  of 
Christians  or  in  the  early  Christian  wintings.  As  to  the  origin 
of  these  church  oaths,  there  is,  it  would  seem,  a  reasonable 
explanation.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  of  the  two  classes 
of  Jewish  proselytes  the  "Proselytes  of  the  Gate"  "bound 
themselves  to  avoid  .  .  .  blasphemy,  idolatry,  murder,  un- 
cleanness,  theft,  disobedience  toward  the  authorities,  and  the 
eating  of  flesh  with  its  blood."  It  was  evidently  a  regular 
requirement  imposed  by  the  Jews  that  these  Gentile  Proselytes 
of  the  Gate  should  make  such  an  oath.  Likewise  when  the 
Jews  became  Christians  and  formed  a  Jewish  Christian 
church,  as  in  Jerusalem,  they  seem  to  have  retained  this  cus- 
tom, and  to  have  required  of  the  Gentile  Christians  in  An- 
tioeh,  as  recorded  in  Acts  15:  19,  20,  and  repeated  in  slightly 
different  phraseology  in  ver.  29  of  the  same  chapter,  "that 


22     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

they  abstain  from  the  pollutions  of  idols,  and  from  fornica- 
tion, and  from  what  is  strangled,  and  from  blood."  When 
Gentile  or  chiefly  Gentile  churches  later  began  to  be  formed 
it  is  not  surprising  to  find,  therefore,  especially  in  Asia  Minor 
where  Jewish  influence  was  very  strongly  felt,  that  the  church 
oath  is  recorded  as  being  a  custom  within  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ  itself.  How  widely  the  use  of  the  church  oath  spread 
among  the  early  churches  is  probably  as  yet  hidden  in  the 
records  of  antiquitj^  still  remaining.  We  know  already,  how- 
ever, the  origin  of  the  church  oath,  and  the  time  and  condi- 
tions of  its  origin,  as  given  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles." — Burrage:  The  Covenant  Idea,  pp.  11,  12. 

In  the  ages  before  the  Reformation  the  covenant  idea 
practically  disappeared  from  the  teaching  of  the  church,  but 
with  the  Reformation  it  reappeared,  and  first  apparently  in 
the  teaching  of  the  Anabaptists  Mr.  Burrage  believes  that  the 
idea  of  a  covenant  can  be  found  in  the  literature  which  im- 
mediately preceded  the  Reformation. 

In  the  year  1523,  in  a  book  written  by  Hans  Locher, 
entitled  "Ein  tzeitlang  gescJiivigner  cJiristliclier  Bruder," 
occurs  the  following:  "If  indeed,  we  have  borne  in  us  the 
likeness  of  the  Father  since  the  creation  and  if  indeed  we  have 
given  ourselves  over  to  faith  and  service  and  have  praised  and 
sworn  in  baptism,  after  we  received  the  garment  of  blameless- 
ness,  to  work  for  the  Lord's  profit,  to  avo^d  evil  and  to  do 
good ;  therefrom  will  follow  our  duty  to  obey  his  will  with  all 
possible  industry."  This  was  written  unmistakably  by  an 
Anabaptist,  as  baptism  is  spoken  of  so  prominently ;  but  this 
brotherhood  evidently  had  had  an  existence  for  some  time,  at 
least,  before  the  Reformation  began,  and  apparently  had  be- 
come Anabaptist  as  the  Reformation  progressed,  for  the  Avriter 
refers  to  his  memory  of  the  long  history  of  his  Society  {alien 
GescJiiclite  seiner  Gemeinscliaft) . 

Of  the  foregoing  Burrage  says:  "In  the  above  without 
doubt  are  the  elements  of  the  church  covenant  idea,  the  mem- 


THE   COVENANT    IDEA  23 

bers  of  the  brotherhood  giving  themselves  over  to  faith  and 
service,  and  swearing,  or  promising,  to  work  for  the  Lord's 
profit,  to  avoid  evil,  and  to  do  good.  Whether  such  a  covenant 
was  employed  in  this  brotherhood  before  it  became  Anal^aptist 
in  belief,  or  in  others  that  went  through  a  like  experience,  is 
an  open  question. 

' '  The  church  covenant  idea  seems  to  have  been  of  slow  and 
uncertain  evolution,  and  our  knowledge  of  it  in  these  earliest 
times  is  but  meagre  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  printed 
records.  Yet  from  1523  to  the  present  time  one  comes  in  his- 
tory again  and  again  upon  this  idea,  sometimes  more,  some- 
times less,  clearly  expressed." — The  Covenant  Idea,  pp.  13,  14. 


III.    THE  SCOTCH  COVENANTS 

The  covenant  idea  received  a  new,  and  so  far  as  we  know, 
as  entirely  independent  emphasis  in  the  development  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland.  We  do  not  know  from  what  source 
the  Scotch  people  obtained  the  idea,  but  the  rise  of  the  Cove- 
nanters in  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  determined  the 
destiny  of  Scotland  . 

In  speaking  of  the  early  Scotch  covenants,  James  Kerr, 
D.  D.,  says  that  the  people  of  Scotland  ''were  led  to  bind  them- 
selves together  in  'bands,'  or  covenants,  and  together  to  God, 
in  prosecution  of  their  aims.  At  Dun,  in  1556,  they  entered 
into  a  'Band'  in  which  they  vowed  to  'refuse  all  society  with 
idolatry.'  At  Edinburgh,  in  1557,  they  entered  into  'ane 
Godlie  Band,'  vowing  that  'we,  by  his  grace,  shall,  with  all 
diligence,  continually  apply  our  whole  power,  substance,  and 
our  lives  to  maintain,  set  forward,  and  establish  the  most 
blessed  word  of  God.'  At  Perth,  in  1559,  they  entered  into 
covenant  'to  put  away  all  things  that  dishonor  his  name  that 
God  may  be  truly  and  purely  worshiped.'  At  Edinburgh,  in 
1560,  they  entered  into  covenant  'to  procure,  by  all  means 
possible,  that  the  truth  of  God's  word  may  have  free  passage 
within  this  realm.'  And  these  covenants  were  soon  followed 
by  the  Confession  of  Faith  prepared  by  Knox  and  five  other 
reformers,  and  acknowledged  by  the  three  Estates  as  'whole- 
some and  sound  doctrine  grounded  upon  the  infallible  truth 
of  God.'  " — The  Covenants  and  the  Covenanters,  pp.  12,  13. 

Fortunately  the  text  of  all  the  important  Scotch  Cove- 
nants has  been  preserved.  The  one  signed  in  the  winter  of 
1557  by  the  early  reformers,  known  as  the  First  Covenant, 
reads  as  follows: 

24 


THE  SCOTCH   COVENANTS  25 

We,  perceiving  how  Satan,  in  his  members,  the  Antichrists  of 
our  time,  cruelly  doth  rage,  seeking  to  overthrow  and  to  destroy 
the  evangel  of  Christ  and  His  Congregation,  ought,  according  to 
our  bounden  duty,  to  strive  in  our  Master's  cause  even  unto  the 
death,  being  certain  of  the  victory  in  Him.  The  which  our  duty 
be\ing  well  considered,  we  do  promise,  before  the  majesty  of  God 
and  His  Congregation,  that  we  (by  his  grace)  shall  with  all  dili- 
gence continually  apply  our  whole  power,  substance,  and  our 
very  lives,  to  maintain,  set  forward,  and  establish  thei  most 
blessed  Word  of  God  and  His  Congregation;  and  shall  labour  at 
our  possibility  to  have  faithful  ministers  purely  and  truly  to  min- 
ister Christ's  evangel  and  sacraments  to  His  people.  We  shall  main- 
tain them,  nourish  them,  and  defend  them,  the  whole  Congregation 
of  Christ,  and  every  member  thereof,  at  our  whole  powers  and 
wearing  of  our  lives,  against  Satan,  and  all  wicked  power  that  does 
intend  tyranny  or  trouble  against  the  foresaid  Congregation.  Unto 
the  which  Holy  Word  and  Congregation  we  do  join  us,  and  also  do 
forsake  and  renounce  the  congregation  of  Satan,  with  all  the  super- 
stitious abomination  and  idolatry  thereof;  and,  moreover,  shall  de- 
clare ourselves  manifestly  enemies  thereto,  by  this  our  faithful 
promise  before  God,  testified  to  His  Congregation,  by  our  subscrip- 
tions at  these  presents.  At  Edinburgh,  the  3d  day  of  December  1557 
years. — Text  from  "The  History  of  Scotland."    By  John  Mill  Burton. 

"A  great  advance  was  reached,"  says  Doctor  Kerr,  "by 
the  National  Covenant  of  1580.  This  National  Covenant,  or 
Second  Confession  of  Faith  was  prepared  by  John  Craig.  .  . 
Its  original  title  was  'Ane  Short  and  Generall  Confession  of 
the  True  Christiane  Faith  and  Religione,  according  to  God's 
verde  and  Actis  of  our  Perlamentis,  subscrybed  by  the  Kingis 
Majestic  and  his  Household,  with  sindrie  otheris,  to  the  glorie 
of  God  and  good  example  of  all  men,  att  Edinburghe,  the  28 
day  of  Januare,  1580,  and  14  yeare  of  his  Majestie's  reigne.'  " 

This  covenant  was  subscribed  again  in  1590  and  1596, 
and  was  renewed  February  28,  1638,  and  "was  transcribed 
into  hundreds  of  copies,  carried  throughout  the  country  from 
north  to  south  and  east  to  west,  and  subscribed  everywhere. ' ' 
The  National  Covenant,  as  finally  renewed,  is  a  long  docu- 
ment, containing  two  additions  to  the  original  covenant,  one 
summarizing  the  Acts  of  Parliament,  the  other  consisting  of 
special  religious  articles  for  the  time.  ("The  Covenants  and 
the  Covenanters."    By  James  Kerr,  d.  d.,  Edinburgh,  1895, 


26     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

p.  13).     The  following  quotations  will  furnish  some  idea  of 
the  nature  of  this  covenant : 

We  all  and  every  one  of  us  under-written,  protest,  That,  after 
long  and  due  examination  of  our  own  consciences  in  matters  of  true 
and  false  religion,  we  are  now  thoroughly  resolved  in  the  truth  by 
the  Spirit  and  Word  of  God:  and  therefore  we  believe  with  our 
hearts,  confess  with  our  mouths,  subscribe  with  our  hands,  and 
constantly  alllrm,  before  God  and  the  whole  world,  that  this  only 
is  the  true  Christian  faith  and  religion,  pleasing  God,  and  bringing 
salvation  to  man,  which  now  is,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  revealed  to 
the  world  by  the  preaching  of  the  blessed  evangel;  and  is  received, 
believed,  and  defended  by  many  and  sundry  notable  kirks  and 
realms,  but  chiefly  by  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  the  King's  Majesty,  and 
three  estates  of  this  realm,  as  God's  eternal  truth,  and  only  ground 
of  our  salvation.  .  . 

We  Noblemen,  Barons,  Gentlemen,  Burgesses,  Ministers  and 
Commons  under-written,  .  .  do  hereby  profess,  and  before  God,  His 
angels,  and  the  world,  solemnly  declare.  That  with  our  whole  hearts 
we  agree,  and  resolve  all  the  days  of  our  life  constantly  to  adhere 
unto  and  to  defend  the  aforesaid  true  religion,  and  (forbearing  the 
practice  of  all  novations.  .  .)  to  labour,  by  all  means,  to  recover 
the  purity  and  liberty  of  the  Gospel,  as  it  was  established  and  pro- 
fessed before  the  foresaid  novations.  .  .  And  therefore,  from  the 
knowledge  and  conscience  of  our  duty  to  God,  to  our  King  and 
country,  without  any  worldly  respect  or  inducement,  so  far  as  hu- 
man infirmity  will  suffer,  wishing  a  further  measure  of  the  grace  of 
God  for  this  effect;  we  promise  and  swear,  by  the  great  name  of 
the  Lord  our  God,  to  continue  in  the  profession  and  obedience  of 
the  aforesaid  religion.  .  . 

And  because  we  cannot  look  for  a  blessing  from  God  upon  our 
proceedings,  except  with  our  profession  and  subscription  we  join 
such  a  life  and  conversation  as  beseemeth  Christians  who  have 
renewed  their  covenant  with  God;  we  therefore  faithfully  promise 
for  ourselves,  our  followers,  and  all  others  under  us,  both  in  public, 
and  in  our  particular  families,  and  personal  carriage,  to  endeavour 
to  keep  ourselves  within  the  bounds  of  Christian  liberty,  and  to  be 
good  examples  to  others  of  all  godliness,  soberness,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  of  every  duty  we  owe  to  God  and  man. 

And  that  this  our  union  and  conjunction  may  be  observed  with- 
out violation,  we  call  the  Living  God,  the  Searcher  of  our  Hearts, 
to  witness,  who  knoweth  this  to  be  our  sincere  desire  and  unfeigned 
resolution,  as  we  shall  answer  to  Jesus  Christ  in  the  great  day,  and 
under  pain  of  God's  everlasting  wrath,  and  of  infamy  a'nd  loss  of 
all  honour  and  respect  in  this  world:  most  humbly  beseeching  the 
Lord  to  strengthen  us  by  his  Holy  Spirit  for  this  end,  and  to  bless 
our  desires  and  proceedings  with  a  happy  success;  that  religion  and 
righteousness  may  flourish  in  the  land,  to  the  glory  of  God,  the 
honour  of  our  King,  and  peace  and  comfort  of  us  all.  In  witness 
whereof,  we  have,  subscribed  with  our  hands  all  the  premises. 


THE   SCOTCH   COVENANTS  27 

The  last  and  most  important  covenant  made  in  Scotland 
is  that  called  the  "Solemn  League  and  Covenant"  of  1643. 
One  of  the  original  copies  of  this  is  in  the  Manuscript  Depart- 
ment of  the  British  Museum.  It  is  written  on  a  roll  of  parch- 
ment several  feet  long,  and  about  eight  inches  wide.  In  this 
document  there  are  six  articles,  and  a  seventh,  or  conclusion. 

The  long  closing  section  is  as  follows : 

And  because  theis  Kingdomes  are  guilty  of  many  sinnes  and 
proucacons  against  God  and  his  sonne  Jesus  Christ,  as  is  too  man- 
ifest by  our  present  distresses  and  dangers  the  fruts  thereof  wee 
professe  and  declare  before  God  and  the  world  our  vnfained  desire 
to  bee  humbled  for  our  owne  sines  and  for  the  sines  of  theis  King- 
domes,  especially  that  we  haue  not  as  wee  ought,  valued  the  inesti- 
mable Benefitt  of  the  Gospel  that  wee  haue  not  labored  for  the 
purity  and  power  thereof  and  that  wee  have  not  endeauoured  to 
receiue  Christ  in  our  harts  nor  to  walk  worthy  of  him  in  our  lines 
wch  are  the  causes  of  other  sines  and  transgessions  soe  much 
aboundinge  amongst  vs:  And  our  true  and  vnfained  purpose,  de- 
sire, and  endeauor  for  our  selues,  and  all  other  vnder  our  power 
and  charge  both  in  publike  and  in  priuate  in  all  duties  wee  owe  to 
God  and  man  to  amend  our  Lines  and  each  one  to  goe  be/ore  an- 
other in  the  example  of  A  reall  reformacon  that  the  Lord  may  turne 
away  his  wrath  &  heauie  indignacon  &  establish  these  Churches 
and  Kingdomes  in  truth  and  peace.  And  this  couenant  wee  make 
in  the  presence  of  Almyghty  God  the  searcher  of  all  harts  wth  a 
true  intencon  to  reforme  the  same,,  as  wee  shall  answer  at  the 
great  day  when  the  secrets  of  all  harts  shall  be  disclosed  most  hum- 
bly besseechinge  the  Lord  to  strengthen  vs  wth  his  holy  Spirit  for 
this  end,  &  to  blesse  our  desires  &  proceedings  wth  such  successe 
as  may  be  deliuerance  and  safety  to  his  people  &  encouragment  to 
other  christian  Churches  groaninge  vnder,  or  in  danger  of  the  yoke 
of  Antichristian  tyranny  to  Joyne  in  the  same,  or  like  assocacon 
and  couenant  to  the  glory  of  God  the  e.nlargment  of  the  Kingdome 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  peace  and  tranquilitie  of  Christian  King- 
domes  and  common  wealth. 
[Dated  Mar:  3.  1643.] 

It  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Scotch  covenants 
were  not  local  church  covenants,  and  in  that  important  respect 
they  differ  from  the  covenants  of  the  early  Anabaptists  and 
Congregationalists.  They  were  signed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
cities  or  districts,  and  later  they  were  endorsed  by  the  people 
of  the  nation;  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  was  even 
adopted  by  Parliament.    But  these  covenants  have  an  impor- 


2S     CONGREGATIONAL  CREErS  AND  COVENANTS 

tant  relation  to  the  church  life  of  Scotland.  They  involve  the 
recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  individual  soul  and  his 
right  to  enter  into  covenant  relations  with  his  God.  They 
were  written  and  signed  documents,  and  their  extension  in 
Scotland  marks  an  advance  in  the  evolution  of  the  covenant, 
particularly  as  compared  with  the  practice  of  the  Anabaptists 
on  the  continent.  It  is  on  these  covenants  that  the  national 
Scottish  Presbyterian  Church  is  founded. 


IV.     EAKLY  ENGLISH  COVENANTS 

In  his  History  of  Plymouth  Plantations,  Governor  Brad- 
ford mentions  a  certain  Mr.  Fytz  as  pastor  of  a  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  London  before  the  days  of  Robert  Browne, 
We  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  discover  something  about 
him,  and  even  to  be  able  to  produce  a  short  article  from'  his 
pen.  The  article  itself  is  very  brief,  but  the  story  about  it  re- 
quires some  space,  and  is  well  worth  reading.  For  this  little 
fragment  from  the  pen  of  Richard  Fytz  may  be  the  earliest 
covenant  of  an  English  Congregational  church  that  has  com€ 
down  to  us. 

The  history  of  covenants  in  Congregational  Churches 
practically  begins  with  Robert  Browne,  but  modern  Congre- 
gationalism had  its  beginnings  before  his  day.  The  first  of 
the  Puritans  was  Bishop  John  Hooper,  who  was  born  in  Som- 
ersetshire about  1495,  only  three  years  after  the  discovery  of 
America.  In  the  persecution  under  Mary  Tudor  he  died  for 
his  faith,  being  burned  at  the  stake.  Next  in  succession  was 
Thomas  Cartwright,  who  was  born  in  Hertfordshire  in  1535, 
to  whom,  as  Doctor  Dexter  has  well  said,  ''must  be  assigned 
the  chiefest  place  in  bringing  Puritanism  in  England  to  the 
dignit}^  of  a  developed  system."  Under  his  leadership,  by 
tongue  and  pen,  it  gained  many  adherents  among  both 
clergy  and  laity.  By  1752  both  Presbyterianism  and  Inde- 
pendency were  fairly  well  defined  as  two  varying  aspects  of 
this  movement,  and  both  grew  until  the  Act  of  1593  which 
made  refusal  to  attend  the  established  church,  or  any  attempt 
at  persuading  others  not  to  attend,  an  offense  punishable  with 
fine  and  imprisonment.  From  that  time  on  those  who  would 
worship  God  otherwise  than  according  to  the  will  of  Queen 

29 


30     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Elizabeth  had  the  choice  of  silence,  exile,  or  secret  and  dan- 
gerous meeting.  All  three  of  these  courses  were  pursued  by 
some  of  those  who  had  been  Puritans. 

On  June  19,  1567,  the  Plumbers'  Hall  in  London  was  hired, 
ostensibly  for  the  celebration  of  a  wedding.  The  police,  in- 
specting the  names  of  parties  interested,  may  have  been  of 
opinion  that  weddings  had  become  rather  frequent  in  that 
group ;  at  any  rate  they  resolved  to  be  among  those  present. 
Probably  there  was  a  wedding;  we  cannot  suspect  the  good 
people  of  deliberate  falsehood  in  the  matter;  but  if  so,  the 
wedding  was  not  the  only  affair  of  interest  that  night.  The 
police  made  a  raid  and  discovered,  what  they  anticipated,  that 
the  tenants  of  Plumbers'  Hall  Avere  not  engaged  in  the  laud- 
able occupation  of  drinking  themselves  drunk  at  a  marriage 
celebration,  but  were  holding  a  religious  meeting.  About  a 
hundred  persons  were  present,  of  whom  twenty-four  men  and 
seven  women  were  arrested.  The  next  day  these  appeared 
before  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  and  the  Bishop  Grindal  of 
London,  who  was  a  Puritan  at  heart.  The  record  of  that 
hearing  is  preserved.  The  demeanor  of  Grindal  and  of  the 
Lord  Mayor  was  not  unduly  severe,  but  they  failed  to  shake 
the  accused  in  their  conviction  that  the  Church  of  England 
was  wrong  in  the  matter  of  vestments  and  other  ''idolatrous 
practices. ' ' 

In  the  report  of  the  trial  of  the  Plumbers'  Hall  company 
there  is  no  evidence  of  a  church  organization,  but  that  does 
not  prove  that  no  such  organization  existed;  the  charge 
against  them  did  not  concern  organization,  but  the  separate 
meeting  or  conventicle.  In  this  trial  one  of  the  accused  said, 
' '  So  long  as  we  might  have  the  Word  freely  preached,  and  the 
Sacraments  administered,  without  preferring  of  idolatrous 
gear  above  it,  we  never  assembled  together  in  houses."  But 
there  was  an  organization.  In  June,  1568,  Bishop  Grindal 
wrote  to  Bullinger  concerning  his  discovery  of  a  secret  church, 
meeting  sometimes  in  houses,  sometimes  in  open  fields,  some- 


EARLY  ENGLISH    COVENANTS  31 

times  in  ships,  in  which  they  have  service  and  the  sacraments. 
He  says,  "Besides  this  they  have  ordained  ministers,  elders 
and  deacons  after  their  own  way,  and  have  even  excommuni- 
cated some  who  had  seceded  from  their  church.  The  number 
of  tliis  sect  is  about  two  hundred,  but  consisting  of  more  wo- 
men than  men.  The  Pri\T  Council  have  lately  committed  the 
heads  of  this  faction  to  prison  and  are  using  every  means  to 
put  a  timely  stop  to  this  sect. ' ' 

On  April  22,  1569,  twenty-four  persons  were  discharged 
from  the  Bridewell,  "besides  seven  women  also  prisoners,"  by 
order  of  "the  right  reverend  father  in  God,  Edmund,  Bishop 
of  London. ' '  This  order  was  issued  on  the  basis  of  a  promise 
by  William  Bonam,  preacher,  to  desist  from  holding  private 
assemblies  for  worship,  in  which  promise  presumably  these 
thirty  other  people  joined. 

The  first  Congregational  church  in  England  was  virtually 
organized  in  jail.  The  form  under  which  the  Plumbers'  Hall 
assembly  was  held  may  or  may  not  have  been  a  formal  organ- 
ization ;  but  in  the  Bridewell,  a  prison  on  the  banks  of  the  Fleet 
River,  where  the  trial  of  Catherine  of  Argon  had  been  held, 
this  band  of  imprisoned  Congregationalists  compacted  their 
organization.  They  elected  Richard  Fytz  pastor  and  a  man 
named  Bowland  as  deacon.  They  called  in  no  bishop  or  pres- 
bytery ;  they  did  it  by  the  right  inherent  in  the  congregation. 

Where  the  old  Fleet  Prison  stood  stands  now  Memorial 
Hall,  the  Congregational  headquarters  of  Great  Britain. 

Richard  Fytz  died  in  prison,  or  shortly  after  his  release 
from  prison,  a  martyr  to  his  faith.  We  do  not  know  much 
about  him,  but  there  are  preserved  three  documents  that  give 
us  at  first  hand  the  faith  and  polity  of  this  church,  and  one 
of  them  is  signed  by  tbe  minister,  and  is  doubtless  (as  both  the 
others  may  be)  the  product  of  his  pen. 

The  shortest  of  these  three  is  printed  in  black  letter  on  a 
single  page,  and  was  probably  prepared  in  the  first  instance 
as  a  defense  against  certain  slanders  that  were  circulated  con- 


32     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

cerning  this  sect.  But  it  appears  to  have  had  uses  also  as  a 
kind  of  basis  of  organization,  and  it  was  printed  in  form 
suited  to  distribution  in  the  congregation.  There  was  another 
single  sheet,  printed  in  black  letter,  with  nine  solemn  declar- 
ations of  protest  against  the  idolatry  of  the  established  church. 
Mr.  Burrage  regards  the  latter  as  a  kind  of  covenant,  and  so 
for  the  purpose  of  protest  it  may  have  been.  But  our  interest 
is  not  so  much  in  this  as  in  the  more  positive  statement  in  the 
brief  document  called  "The  True  Marks  of  Christ's  Church." 
Two  things  only  it  insisted  upon,  the  discipline,  or  fellowship, 
instead  of  canon  law.  "We  may  regard  it  as  the  first  platform 
of  an  organized  church  in  modern  Congregationalism. 

The  question  has  been  asked  whether  this  church,  so  con- 
stituted, was  connected  in  any  organic  way  with  that  of  the 
Pilgrims.  So  far  as  we  know  it  was  not.  But  it  was  connected 
with  the  separated  church  in  Amsterdam,  and  from  it  came 
the  organization  of  the  church  of  which  Henry  Jacob  was  min- 
ister, of  whose  covenant  and  order  we  ^lave  full  knowledge; 
and  from  that  came  many  churches,  some  of  which  exist  to 
this  day.  The  Pilgrims  in  Holland  were  in  touch  with  this 
movement,  though  not  greatly  influenced  by  it.  There  was 
historical  continuity  throughout  the  entire  reign  of  Elizabeth 
with  the  movements  which  had  gone  before  from  the  begin- 
nings of  the  English  reformation,  and  with  the  movements 
which  followed  and  still  follow. 

John  Robinson  affirmed  that,  as  the  result  of  persecution, 
"there  was  not  one  congregation  separated  in  Queen  Mary's 
time  that  remained  in  Queen  Elizabeth's.  The  congregations 
were  dissolved,  and  the  peersons  in  them  bestowed  themselves 
in  their  several  parishes  where  their  livings  and  estates  were. ' ' 
(Justification,  etc..  Works,  ii,  489.)  It  has  become  e\adent 
that  Robinson  was  not  strictly  accurate  in  that  statement. 
Perhaps  he  was  a  little  too  eager  to  disclaim  any  connection 
with  Robert  Browne,  and  wished  to  believe  that  the  Pilgrim 
movement  had  grown  up  entirely  distinct  from  the  troubled 


EARLY  ENGLISH   COVENANTS  33 

and  sometimes  turbulent  organizations  of  earlier  years.  But 
it  grows  increasingly  evident  that  the  roots  of  Pilgrim  history 
go  deeper  than  John  Robinson  realized.  Many  facts  are  hope- 
lessly lost  to  us,  for  meetings  were  held  in  secret,  and  there 
was  no  attempt  to  preserve  evidence  that  might  be  used  against 
them  in  court;  but  we  are  sure  that  congregations  continued 
to  meet  in  secret  and  that  there  was  some  continuity  of  or- 
ganization. 

THE  FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  COVENANT 

By  Richard  Fytz 

The  Order  of  the  Priuye  Church  in  London,  which  by  the  malice 
of  Satan  is  falsely  slandered,  and  euill  spoken  of. 

The  myndes  of  them,  that  by  the  strengthe  and  workinge  of  the 
almighty,  our  Lorde  lesus  Christ,  haue  set  their  hands  and  hartes, 
to  the  pure,  vnmingled  and  sincere  worshipinge  of  God,  accordinge 
to  his  blessed  and  glorious  worde  in  al  things,  onely  abolishinge 
and  abhorringe  all  ti'adicions  and  inuentions  of  man,  whatsoever 
in  the  same  Religion  and  Seruice  of  oure  Lord  God,  knowinge  this 
alwayes,  that  the  Christe,  eyther  hathe  or  else  euer  more  continu- 
ally vnder  the,  crosse  striueth  for  to  have.  Fyrste  and  formoste,  the 
Glorious  worde  and  Euangel  preached,  not  in  bondage  and  subjec- 
tion, but  freely,  and  purely,  onleye  and  all  together  accordinge  to 
the  institution  and  good  worde  of  the  Lorde  lesus,  without  any  tra- 
dicion  of  man.  And  laste  of  all  to  haue,  not  the  filthye  Cannon  Lawe, 
but  dissiplyne  onelye,  and  all  together  to  the  heavenlye  and  all- 
mighty  worde  of  our  good  Lorde,  Isus  Chryste. 

(Signed)  Richard  Fytz,  minister. 

This  was  printed  on  one  side  of  a  small  leaf.  The  separ- 
ate and  more  elaborate  covenant,  similarly  printed  on  another 
leaf,  contained  nine  declarations  of  protest  against  the  idola- 
try of  the  Church  of  England,  ended  with  these  solemn  words: 

God  geue  us  sterngth  styl  to  stryue  in  suffryng  vnder  the  crosse, 
that  the  blessed  worde  of  our  God  may  onley  rule  and  haue  the 
highest  place,  to  cast  downe  strong  holdes,  to  destroy  or  overthrow 
policies  or  imaginations,  and  euery  high  thyng  that  is  exalted 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  to  bryng  in  to  captiuitie  or 
subjection,  euery  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ,  that  the  name 
and  worde  of  the  eternal  our  Lorde  God  may  be  axalted  and  mag- 
nified above  all  thynges. — Quoted  in  Burrage,  The  Early  English 
Dissenters,  ii  3-15. 


34     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Of  the  church  that  was  used  to  meet  in  the  Fleet  Prison, 
Daniel  Buck,  scrivener,  testified  thus  on  March  9,  1593 : 

"Being  asked  what  vowe  or  promise  hee  made  when  hee 
came  first  to  their  Soeietie,  he  answereth  &  sayth  he  made  ye 
Protestation,  viz :  That  hee  Avould  walke  with  ye  rest  of  them 
so  long  as  they  did  Avalke  in  ye  way  of  ye  Lorde,  &  as  farr  as 
might  be  warranted  by  ye  word  of  God." — Harloian  Mss., 
7042,  p.  399;  quoted  by  Dr.  Dexter  in  his  "True  Story  of 
John  Smyth"  p.  69. 

The  man  to  whom  the  modern  Church  is  more  indebted 
than  to  any  other  one  man  for  the  church  covenant  as  we 
know  it,  is  Robert  Browne.  To  his  leadership,  not  only  his 
own  age,  but  all  coming  ages,  must  pay  tribute.  He  sets  forth 
his  ideas  of  the  covenant  in  an  epoch-making  book,  entitled, ' ' 
"A  Booke  Which  Sheweth  the  life  and  manners  of  all  irue 
CJirisiians,  and  howe  vnlike  they  are  \aito  Turkes  and  Papistes 
and  Heathen  folke.  By  me,  Robert  Broavne,  Middlebvrgh, 
Tl  Imprinted  by  Richarde  Painter.    1582." 

There  are  about  ten  short  sections  of  this  Avork,  which  it 
is  essential  for  us  here  to  examine.    They  are  the  following : 

1.  Wherefore  are  we  called  the  people  of  God  and  Christians? 
Because  that  by  a  willing  Couenaunt  made  with  our  God,  we  are 
vnder  the  gouernement  of  God  and  Christe,  and  thereby  do  leade 
a  godly  and  christian  life.  Christians  are  a  companie  or  number 
of  beleeuers,  which  by  a  willing  couenaunt  made  with  their  God, 
are  vnder  the  gouernement  of  God  and  Christ,  and  keepe  his  Lawes 
in  one  holie  communion:  Because  they  are  redeemed  by  Christe 
vnto  holines  &  happines  for  euer,  from  whiche  they  were  fallen 
by  the  sinne  of  Adam. 

36.  Howe  must  the  churche  be  first  planted  and  gathered  vnder 
one  kinde  of  gouernement? 

First  by  a  couenant  and  condicion,  made  on  Gods  behalfe. 

Secondlie  by  a  couenant  and  condicion  made  on  our  behalfe. 

Thirdlie  bj'^  vsing  the  sacrament  of  Baptisme  to  seale  those 
condicions,  and  couenantes. 

The  couenant  on  God's  behalf  is  his  agreement  or  partaking  of 
condicions  with  vs  that  if  we  keepe  his  lawes,  not  forsaking  his 
gouernment,  hee  will  take  vs  for  his  people,  &  blesse  vs  accordingly. 

37.  What  is  the  couenant,  or  condicion  on  Gods  behalfe?  His 
promise  to  be  our  God  and  sauiour,  if  we  forsake  not  his  gouerne- 
ment by  disobedience. 


EARLY  ENGLISH   COVENANTS  35 

Also  his  promise  to  be  the  God  of  our  seede,  while  we  are  his 
people.  Also  the  gifte  of  his  spirit  to  his  children  as  an  inwarde 
calling  and  furtheraunce  of  godlines. 

His  promise  to  his  church,  is  his  sure  couenant,  remembred, 
taught,  and  held  by  the  church,  and  the  seede  thereof:  whereby  it 
onely  hath  assurance  of  saluation  in  Christ. 

38.  What  is  the  couenant  or  condicion  on  our  behalfe? 

We  must  offer  and  geue  vp  our  selues  to  be  of  the  church  and 
people  of  God. 

We  must  likewise  offer  and  geue  vp  our  children  and  others, 
being  vnder  age,  if  they  be  of  our  households  and  we  haue  full 
power  ouer  them.  We  must  make  profession,  that  we  are  his  people, 
by  submitting  our  selues  to  his  lawes  and  gouernement. 

The  couenaunt  on  our  behalfe,  is  our  agreement  and  partaking 
of  conditions  with  God,  That  he  shal  be  our  God  so  long  as  wee 
keepe  vnder  his  gouernement,  and  obey  his  lawes,  and  no  longer. 

39.  How  must  Baptisme  be  vsed  as  a  seale  of  this  couenaunt? 
They  must  be   duelie   presented,   and   offered   to   God   and  the 

church,  which  are  to  be  Baptised. 

They  must  be  duelie  received  vnto  grace  and  fellowship. 

Baptisme  is  a  Sacram.ent  or  marke  of  the  outwarde  church, 
sealing  vnto  vs  by  the  wasshing  of  our  bodies  in  water,  and  the 
word  accordingly  preached,  our  suffering  with  Christ  to  die  vnto 
sinne  by  repentance,,  and  our  rising  with  him  to  line  vnto  righteous- 
nes,  and  also  sealing  our  calling,  profession,  and  happines  gotten 
by  our  faith  in  our  victorie  of  the  same  lesus  Christ. 

Baptising  into  the  bodie  and  gouernement  of  Christ,  is  when 
the  parties  Baptised  are  receyued  vnto  grace  and  fellowshippe,  by 
partaking  with  the  church  in  one  Christian  communion. 

In  this  book  of  Browne's,  we  have  a  singularly  complete 
and  valid  conception  of  the  covenant  as  related  both  to  the 
individual  Christian  and  the  local  church.  To  Browne  the 
covenant  is  with  God  and  is  also  the  basis  of  church  member- 
ship. 

Burrage  raises  the  question  whether  Robert  Browne  is 
entirely  or  partly  original  in  this  Avork,  or  whether  the  ideas 
here  expressed  are  in  general  borrowed  from  others  who  had 
preceded  him,  but  more  clearly  thought  out  than  hitherto  had 
been  the  case? 

He  answers  that  Browne  might,  at  least,  have  found  the 
germ  of  his  idea  in  a  book  entitled  ''The  Hvmbel  and  vn- 
famed  confession  of  the  belefe  of  certain  poore  banished  men, 
grounded  vpon  the  holy  Scriptures  of  God,  and  vpon  the  Ar- 


36     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

tides  of  that  vndefiled  and  only  vndoubtedly  true  Christian 
faith,  which  the  only  Catholicke  (that  is  to  say  vniuersal) 
Churche  of  Christ  professeth. "  At  the  end  of  the  book  are 
the  words,  ' '  Prom  Wittonburge  by  Nicholas  Dorcastor.  Ann. 
M.  D.  liiii.  [1554]  the  xiiii  of  May."  From  this  the  two  fol- 
lowing passages  may  be  quoted: 

This  holy  vniuersall  church,  as  the  sone  in  brightness,  hath 
beames  of  light,  whereof  it  cometh  to  passe,  that  there  be  also 
particuler  Churches  or  congregations.  Where  thoughe  there  be,  but 
two  or  three  gathered  together  in  y^  name  of  Christe,  He  is  in  the 
myddes  amonge  theim. 

Almightye  God  (who  euer  was  and  is  merciful)  dyd  promis 
him  [man]  againe  euerlastynge  lyfe,  which  was  laied  vp  in  his 
owne  Sonne:  but  so  that  (accordyng  as  he,  euen  God  hymselfe  by 
an  euerlasting  decree,  had  appointed)  he  wold  be  satisfyed,  recom- 
penced,  and  pacified  againe,  in  the  obedience  of  al  his  commaunde- 
mentes,  by  the  same  nature  of  man:  Whych  because  of  the  cor- 
ruption of  sinne,  that  had  entred  in  to  it  by  disobedience,  could  not 
fully  satisfye  the  law,  and  therefore  God  made  an  euerlasting 
couenaunt  of  mercye  with  mankinde,  &  promysed  the  blessed  seede: 
namely,  that  hys  owne  son  should  put  vpon  him  our  nature,  and 
therwith  in  innocency,  satisfy  the  law,  and  bryng  vs  agayne  into  the 
fellowshyp  of  that  euerlasting  lyfe,  whyche  was  lost  thorow  Adams 
disobediece.  .  . 

And  what  meane  we  els  by  thys,  but  euen  to  shew  that  it  is  an 
horrible  thing,  &  farre  out  of  order,  that  whyle  the  Lord  in  this  his 
holy  Sacramet  [i.e.,  the  Lord's  Supper]  offereth  vs  so  large  a  coue- 
naut  of  mercy,  we  shal  thincke  scorne,  to  kepe  the  condicions  there- 
of, and  the  rules  that  he  hath  prescribed  vnto  vs.  No  man  doubtles 
(no  not  in  Ciuile  matters)  would  be  so  serued:  wher  like  as  it  is 
no  bargaine,  till  both  parties  be  agreed,  so  cometh  it  to  no  perfect 
effecte,  neither  can  it  stand  vnlesse  the  duties,  codicions  &  promises 
be  kept.  Neuertheles  this  thing  shal  appeare  muche  more  euident, 
if  we  compare  the  practise  of  these  present  miserable  dayes,  to  the 
order  of  the  Lord  and  his  Apostles  in  the  primitiue  church,  &  lay 
the  one  agaynst  the  other.  As  for  the  perfourmauce  of  the  condi- 
cions on  hys  party,  ther  is  no  doubt:  For  wher  as  he  couenanteth 
with  vs  in  thvs  holy  Sacrament,  so  to  feede,  nourish,  &  comfort  our 
consciences,  that  he  wyl  euen  seale  vs  vnto  his  selfe,  set  hys  marke 
vpo  vs,  and  take  vs  for  hys  own.  He  certifleth  vs  assuredly,  that 
vpon  such  condicions,  as  we  also  vpon  our  allegiaunce,  are  bound 
to  kepe  (whych  we  must  either  do,  or  els  become  vnworthy  Re- 
ceauers  to  our  damnatio)  we  haue  felowship  with  him,  and  are 
partakers  of  the  same  eternal  lyfe.  that  he  hym  selfe  hath  pur- 
chased for  vs  in  hys  body  and  bloud. 

It  then  appears,  therefore,  as  Mr.  Burrage  points  out,  that 

more  than  twenty-five  years  before  Robert  Browne  Avrote  "A 


EARLY  ENGLISH   COVENANTS  37 

Booke  Which  Sheweth"  there  had  been  printed  in  English 
one  book,  at  least,  Avhich  touched  indirectly  upon  various 
views  which  he  later  brought  out  in  that  work.  For  instance, 
the  idea  of  particular  or  congregational  churches  is  hinted  at, 
and  though  the  method  of  organizing  such  churches  by  cove- 
nant is  not  distinctly  given,  yet  the  fundamental  points  from 
Avhich  the  church  covenant  idea  might  have  been  developed 
are  here  clearly  delineated.  They  are  namely  these :  God  has 
made  a  covenant  of  mercy  with  man  on  certain  ' '  condicions. ' ' 
This  covenant  is  offered  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  But  there  can 
be  no  bargain  between  God  and  men  till  both  parties  be  agreed, 
and  the  covenant  cannot  stand  ' '  vnlesse  the  duties,  condicions 
&  promises  be  kept."  In  other  words,  though  God  has  made 
this  covenant  from  his  side,  yet  it  is  no  real  covenant  until 
men  accept  the  "condicions"  God  has  imposed,  and  so  make 
a  covenant  on  their  own  part,  and  thereby  come  into  fellow- 
ship with  God.  In  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  God 
seals  men  unto  himself  and  sets  his  mark  on  them.  The  very 
thought  that  Browne  especially  emphasizes,  namely,  that  a 
covenant  has  two  aspects,  a  God-ward  and  a  man-ward,  and 
should  be  sealed  in  an  outward  manner,  is  all  here.  But  Mr. 
Burrage  also  recognizes  that  there  is  much  that  Browne  says 
which  is  not  said  by  Doreaster,  and  there  are  also  some  points 
which  he  looks  at  in  a  different  light.  Where,  then,  did  he 
obtain  his  views  on  the  covenant?  Were  some  borrowed,  and 
the  rest  the  product  of  his  own  thinking  ?  We  do  not  know : 
but  for  these  ideas,  in  the  form  in  which  they  have  influenced 
the  modern  Church,  we  are  indebted  to  Robert  Browne. 

Robert  Browne's  book  ''A  Book  which  Sheweth"  etc., 
from  which  the  foregoing  quotation  is  made,  was  published  at 
Middleburg,  Holland,  in  1582 :  but  Browne  had  already  or- 
ganized a  church  in  Norwich,  England  at  a  date  earlier  than 
that  of  the  publication  of  this  book.  This  is  shown  by  Robert 
Browne's  work  entitled  "A  Trve  and  Short  Declaration,  both 
of  the  Gathering  and  loyning  together  of  Certaine  Persons: 


38     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

and  also  of  the  Lamentable  Breach  and  Division  which  fell 
amongst  them, ' '  of  which  probably  the  only  known  copy  is  in 
Lambeth  Palace  Library,  London.  In  this  book  the  organiza- 
tion of  Browne's  church  in  Norwich,  in  1580-1,  is  described  as 
follows : 

This  is  to  lay  the  foundacion  of  Mat.  18  to  preach  and  Babtize 
in  the  name  of  the  Father  teaching  to  obserue  &  doe,  whatsoeuer 
saieth  Christ,  I  haue  commanded  you,  &  this  is  to  overthrow  the 
foundacion  to  teach  a  toleration  &  practiseing  of  things,  which  are 
cotraie  to  the  whole  gouernment  &  kingdom  of  Christ,  &c. 

The  Order  Agreed  Ou  for  the  Gviding  & 

establishing  of  the  companie  in  all  Godlines,  &  such  like  This  doc- 
trine before  being  shewed  to  the  companie,  &  openlie  preached 
among  them  manie  did  agree  thereto,  &  though  much  trouble  and 
persecution  did  followe,  yet  some  did  cleaue  fast  to  the  trueth,  but 
some  Fell  awaie  fro  when  triall  by  pursuttes,  losses  &  imprison- 
ment came,  &  further  increased  then  Robert,  Barker,  Nicholas  Woe- 
dowes,  Tatsel,  Bond  &  soe  others,  forsooke  vs  also  &  held  back,  and 
were  afraied  at  the  first.  There  was  a  day  appointed  &  an  order 
taken,  for  redresse  off  the  former  abuses  &  for  cleauing  to  the 
Lord  in  greater  obediece  so  a  covenat  was  maed  &.  ther  mutual 
cosent  was  geue  to  hould  to  gether. 

There  were  certaine  chief  pointes  proued  vnto  them  by  the 
scriptures  all  which  being  particularie  rehersed  vnto  them  with 
exhortation  they  agreed  vpon  them,  &  pronouced  their  agrement  to 
ech  thing  particularlie,  saiing,  to  this  we  geue  our  consent.  First 
therefore  thei  gaue  their  consent,  to  ioine  themselues  to  the  Lord, 
in  one  couenant  &  felloweshipp  together,  &  to  keep  &  seek  agrement 
vnder  his  lawes  &  government:  and  therefore  did  vtterlie  flee  & 
auoide  such  like  disorders  &  wickednes,  as  was  mencioned  before. 
Further  thei  agreed  off  those  which  should  teach  them,  and  watch 
for  the  saluation  of  their  soules,  whom  thei  allowed  &  did  chose 
as  able  &  meete  ffor  that  charge.  For  thei  had  suflicient  triall  and 
testimonie  thereoff  by  that  which  thei  hard  &  sawe  by  them,  &  had 
receaved  of  others.  So  thei  praied  for  their  watchfulnes  &  dili- 
gence, &  promises!  their  obedience. 

Likewise  an  order  was  agreed  on  ffor  their  meetinges  together 
ffor  ther  exercises  therein,  as  for  praier,  thanckesgiuing.  reading  of 
the  Scriptures,  for  exhortation  &  edifiing,  either  by  all  men  which 
had  the  guift  or  by  those  which  had  a  speciall  charge  before  others. 
And  for  the  lawefulnes  off  putting  forth  questions,  to  learne  the 
trueth,  as  iff  anie  thing  seemed  doubtful  &  hard,  to  require  some  to 
shewe  it  more  plainly,  or  for  anie  to  shewe  it  himself  &  to  cause 
the  rest  to  vnderstand  it.  Further  for  noting  out  anie  speciall  mat- 
ter of  edifiing  at  the  meeting,  or  for  tolckig  seuerally  thereto,  with 
some  particulars,  iff  none  did  require  publique,  audience,  or  if  no 


I 


EARLY   ENGLISH   COVENANTS  39 

waightier  matter  were  hadled  of  others.  Againe  it  was  agreed  that 
ainie  might  protest,  appeale,  complaine,  exhort,  dispute,  reproue 
&c  as  he  had  occasion,  but  yet  in  due  order,  which  Was  then  also 
declared.  Also  that  all  should  further  the  kingdom  off  God  in  them- 
selues,  &  especiallie  in  their  charge  &  household,  iff  thei  had  anie, 
or  in  their  freindes  &  companions  &  whosoeuer  was  Worthie.  Fur- 
thermore thei  particularlie  agreed  off  the  manner,  howe  to  Watch 
to  disorders,  &  reforme  abuses,  &  for  assembling  the  companie,  for 
teaching  priuatlie,  &  for  warning  and  re,bukeing  both  priuatlie  & 
openlie,  for  appointing  publick  humbling  in  more  rare  judgemetes, 
and  publik  thankesgeuiug  in  straunger  blessinges,  for  gathering  & 
testifiing  voices  in  debating  matters,  &  propounding  them  in  the 
name  off  the  rest  that  agree,  for  an  order  of  chosing  teachers,  guides 
&  releeuers,  when  thei  want,  for  separating  cleane  from  uncleane 
for  recleauing  anie  into  the  fellowship,  for  preseting  the  dailie  suc- 
cesse  of  the  church,  &  the  wantes  thereof,  for  seeking  to  other 
churches  to  haue  their  help,  being  better  reformed,  or  to  bring 
them  to  reformation,  for  taking  an  order  that  none  contend  openlie, 
nor  persecute,  nor  trouble  disorderedly,  nor  bring  false  doctrine' 
nor  euile  cause  after  once  or  twise  Warning  or  rebukeu 

Thus  all  things  were  handled,  set  in  order  &  agreed  on  to  the 
comfort  off  all,  &  soe  the  matter  wrought  &  prospered  by  the  good 
hand  of  God. 

This  account  gives  us  at  least  the  substance  of  the  first 
knowai  church  covenant  made  by  Browne.  The  same  covenant 
may  have  been  renewed  also  in  Browne's  church  after  it  had 
moved  to  Middleburg.  "First,  therefore,  thei  gave  their  con- 
sent to  ioine  themselves  to  the  Lord  in  one  covenant. ' '  That 
w^as  the  basis  of  their  fellowship. 

The  substance  also,  of  possibly  the  next  earliest  church 
covenant  to  be  found,  of  the  date  1588  or  earlier,  is  given  in 
the  "deposition  of  William  Gierke,  taken  8  March,  1592,"  as 
follows : 

He  sayth  he  hath  bene  of  the  forsayd  congi-egation  [of  Sepa- 
ratists in  the  neighborhood  of  London]  these  foure  or  fyve  years 
and  made  promise  to  stand  with  the  sd.  congregation  so  long  as 
they  did  stand  for  the  truth  and  glory  of  God,  being  then  of  that 
congregation  at  that  tyme  about  twenty,  or  thereabouts.— Harleian 
MSS.  7042:  p.  110.  Cited  in  Doctor  Dexter's  "Congregationalism." 
pp.  255,  256.  note  2. 

After  Browne's  return  from  Middelburg  in  1592,  Francis 
Johnson  became  pastor  of  the  above-  mentioned  brotherhood 
congregation.     The  covenants  used  in  the  church  at  Middle- 


40  CONGREGATIONAL   CREEDS   AND   COVENANTS 

burg  in  1591,  and  also  in  the  congregation  at  London  in  1592 
or  1593,  during  Johnson's  pastorates,  have  fortunately  been 
preserved. 

We  are  told  how  Johnson  came  to  employ  a  covenant  in 
his  church  in  Middleburg.  Since  1589  or  1590,  he  had  been 
pastor  of  "the  church  of  English  Merchants  of  the  Staple"  in 
that  city.  This  was  the  church  in  which  "Cartwright  and 
Dudley  Fenner  had  successively  ministered,"  and  therefore 
was  not  a  Brownist  congregation.  In  fact,  Johnson  had  taken 
special  pains  to  spy  out  the  publications  of  the  Separatists, 
and  in  1591  he  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  whole  edition 
of  Barrowe  and  Greenwood's  "Plaine  Refutation"  burned  at 
Dort.  He  kept  a  copy  for  himself,  however,  that  he  might 
study  their  errors.  The  result  was  that  he  read  the  whole 
book,  and  evidently  changed  his  views  in  a  short  time  to  such 
an  extent  tliat  he  drew  up  the  following  "Articles"  (the  term 
covenant  is  not  used,  but  the  document  is  in  reality  a  cove- 
nant), the  signing  of  which  was  withstood  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Ferrers.  Whether  these  articles  were  signed  generally  by  the 
church  is  not  known,  but  from  the  fact  that  Johnson  was  in 
London  in  1592,  and  pastor  of  a  Separatist  church  there,  it 
may  be  inferred  that  his  plan  did  not  entirely  please  the 
church  in  Middleburg,  for  those  who  would  not  sign,  even  if 
they  had  formerly  been  members  of  the  church,  might  be  con- 
sidered so  no  longer.  These  articles  of  Francis  Johnson  prob- 
bably  furnish  us  with  the  earliest  known  English  church- 
covenant  document,  containing  genuine  Brownist-Separatist 
views,  as  our  information  of  earlier  covenants  may  be  frag- 
mentary, and  is  drawn  either  from  books  or  from  manuscripts 
concerning  Brownist  court  proceedings.  The  text  of  the  docu- 
ment in  hand  reads  as  follows : 

Francis  Johnson  his  articles,  wch  he  vrged  to  be  vnder  written 
by  the  Englishe  Marchants  in  Middleboroughe  in  October.  1591. 
withatoode  by  me  Thomas  Ferrers,  then  Deputie  of  the  Companie 
there. 


EARLY  ENGLISH   COVENANTS  41 

Wee  whose  names  are  vnderwritten,  doe  beleeve  and  acknow- 
ledge the  truthe  of  the  Doctrine  and  fayth  of  our  Lorde  Jesus 
Christe,  wch  is  revealed  vnto  vs  in  the  Canon  of  the,  Scriptures  of 
the  olde  and  newe  Testament. 

Wee  doe  acknowledge,  that  God  in  his  ordinarie  meanes  for 
the  bringinge  vs  vnto  and  keepinge  of  vs  in  this  faythe  of  Christe, 
And  an  holie  Obedience  thea-eof,  hath  sett  in  his  Churche  teachinge 
and  rulinge  Elders,  Deacons,  and  Helpers:  And  that  this  his  Ordi- 
nance is  to  continue  vnto  the  ende  of  the  worlde  as  well  vnder 
Christian  princes,  as  vnder  heathen  Magistrates. 

Wee  doe  willinglie  ioyne,  together  to  live  as  the  Churche  of 
Christe,  watchinge  one  over  another,  and  submittinge  our  selves 
vnto  them,  to  whom  the  Lorde  Jesus  committeth  the,  oversight  of 
his  Churche,  guidinge  and  censuringe  vs  according  to  the  rule  of  the 
worde  of  God. 

To  this  ende  wee  doe  promisse  henceforthe  to  keepe  what  so- 
ever Christe  our  Lorde  hath  commanded  vs,  as  it  shall  please  him 
by  his  holie  spiritt  out  of  his  worde  to  give  knowledge  thereof  and 
abilitie  there  vnto. 

His  opinions  and   exposicons  vpon  these 
fower  Articles,  as  afore. 

That  for  anie  wch  haue  bene  of  this  Churche  and  will  not 
vnder-write  these  wth  promisse  (as  God  shall  inhable  them)  to 
stande  to  the  forme  and  everie  poynte  of  them,  againste,  men  and 
Angells  vnto  the  deathe;  otherwise  he  may  not  be  receaved  as  a 
member  in  this  Churche. 

And  allso  that  any  man  once  havinge  adioyned  him  selfe  to 
this  Englishe  churche  in  Middleboroughe,  he  cannot  fynde  any 
warrant  by  the  worde  of  God,  that  after  the  same  partie  is  to  ad- 
ioyne  him  selfe  to  anye  other  Churche,  either  in  Englande  or  els 
where;  but  there,  as  the  Discipline  is  rightlie  established,  as  in 
this  Churche. 

Robert  Browne's  church  covenant  idea  seems  generally, 
if  not  always,  to  have  been  accepted  by  the  earliest  Independ- 
ent churches,  as  Burrage  remarks.  In  fact,  without  some  such 
basal  idea  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to  form  a 
strictly  Separatist  church.  Yet  the  word  "covenant,"  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  used  by  all  the  earliest  Independent 
leaders.  For  the  word  "covenant"  such  expressions  as  "arti- 
cles" to  be  signed,  "a  promise,"  "an  agreement,"  etc.,  were 
sometimes  substituted.  Oftentimes  also  the  covenant  idea 
seems  to  be  implied  by  the  use  of  such  phraseology  as  "joyned 
by  their  willing  consent," 


42     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  degree  in  which  the  earliest  Independent  leaders  ac- 
cepted the  church  covenant  idea  may  be  estimated  somewhat 
from  the  following  quotations. 

Barrowe  and  Greenwood,  who  were  working  for  a  Congre- 
gational polity  between  Brownism  and  Presbyterianism,  in  a 
paper  sent  to  Cartwright  about  1589,  define  the  true  church  as 

A  companie  of  Faithful  people:  separated  from  the  vnbeleuers 
and  heathen  of  the  land:  gathered  in  the  name,  of  Christ,  whome 
they  truelie  worship,  and  redily  obey  as  thier  only  King  Priest 
and  Prophet  [notice  that  these  last  words  occur  often  in  the  text 
of  later  covenants,  especially  in  America] :  ioyned  together  as  mem- 
bers of  one  bodie. — Dextex's  Congregationalism,"  pp.  222-223. 

In  this  quotation  the  word  ''covenant"  is  not  used,  and 
in  Barrowe 's  chief  treatise,  entitled  a  "Brief  Discouerie  of  the 
Fals^  Church,"  of  the  date  1590,  the  word  ''covenant"  is 
evidently  not  employed. — Dexter's  "Congregationalism,"  p. 
237. 

The  following  citation  from  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 
the  exiled  English  church  in  Amsterdam  originally  drawn  up 
in  1596,  clearly  indicates  that  the  covenant  idea  was  employed 
by  the  Separatists  in  Amsterdam: 

And  being  come  forth  of  this  antichristian  estate  vnto  the  free- 
dom and  true  profession  of  Christ,  besides  the  instructing  and  well 
guyding  of  their  owne  families,  they  are  willingly  to  ioyne  together 
in  christian  communion  and  orderly  covenant,  and  by  free  confes- 
sion of  the  faith  and  obediece  of  Christ  to  vnite  themselves  into 
peculiar  and  visible  congregations:  wherin,  as  members  of  one 
body  wherof  Christ  is  the  only  head,  they  are  to  worship  and  serve 
God  according  to  his  word,  remembering  to  keep  holy  the  Lords 
day. 

After  the  accession  of  James  I.  to  the  throne  a  petition 
was  sent  to  him,  in  which  the  differences  between  the  Separa- 
tists and  the  Church  of  England  were  set  forth.  The  word 
"covenant"  does  not  occur  in  this,  but  may  be  implied  in  the 
following : 

That  eyery  true  visible  church,  is  a  company  of  people  called 
and  separated  from  the  world  by  the  word  of  God,  and  joyned  to- 


EARLY  ENGLISH  COVENANTS  43 

gether  by  voluntarie  profession  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  Gospell. — Dexter's  "Congregationalism,"  p.  307. 

In  a  letter  of  Hugh  Bromhead,  one  of  John  Smyth's 
faithful  followers,  written  about  1608,  before  Smyth's  separa- 
tion, to  William  Hamerton  of  London  is  the  following  direct 
statement  concerning  the  general  use  of  the  church  covenant 
in  the  English  churches  of  Holland : 

"Thirdly,  we  seek  the  fellowship  of  His  faithful  and 
obedient  servants,  and  together  with  them  to  enter  covenant 
with  the  Lord,"  etc. —  /.  Hunter:  Founders  of  New-Ply- 
mouth, London,  1854.    Appendix  N,  p.  167. 

In  1610  John  Robinson  published  his  "  Ivstification  of 
Separation  from  the  Church  of  England."    In  this  he  says: 

A  company  consisting  though  but  of  two  or  three  separated 
from  the  world  whether  vnchristian,  or  antichristian,  and  gathered 
into  the  name  of  Christ  by  a  covenant  made  to  walk  in  all  the 
wayes  of  God  knowen  vnto  them,  is  a  church,  and  so  hath  the  whole 
power  of  Christ.  — Dextea-'s  "Congregationalism,"  p.  393. 

In  a  work  by  Henry  Jacob,  however,  printed  at  Lej'den 
in  1610,  and  entitled  "The  Divine  Beginning  and  Institution 
of  Christ's  true  Visible  or  Ministerial  Church,"  occurs  the 
following  definition  of  a  Christian  church: 

A  true  Visible  &  Ministeriall  Church  of  Christ  is  a  nomber  of 
faithfull  people  joyned  by  their  willing  consent  in  a  spirituall  out- 
ward society  or  body  politick,  ordinarily  coming  together  in  one 
place  instituted  by  Christ  in  his  New  Testament,  &  having  the 
power  to  exercise  Ecclesiastical  government  and  all  God's  other 
spiritual  ordinances  (the  means  of  salvation)  in  &  for  itself  im- 
mediately from  Christ. 

The  absence  of  the  word  "covenant"  from  this  descrip- 
tion has  been  noted  and  commented  upon,  but  it  is  not  veiy 
important.  The  idea  is  implied  in  the  "wulling  consent"  and 
the  ' '  body  politick ' '  is  the  phrase  afterward  used  in  the  May- 
flower Compact.  Moreovei',  Jacob  employed  a  covenant  in  his 
London  Church,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

The  manner  in  which  the  covenant  was  adopted  appears 
to  have  varied  in  the  different  churches.     John  Murton  has 


44     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

preserved  for  us  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  John 
Eobinson's  church  entered  into  covenant  in  1606,  which  may 
or  may  not  be  quite  accurate.  He  declares,  "That  there  was 
first  one  stood  up  and  made  a  covenant,  and  then  another,  and 
these  two  joined  together,  and  so  a  third,  and  these  became  a 
church. ' '  This  record  may  not  be  wholly  accurate.  We  have 
a  much  more  detailed  and  interesting  account  of  the  covenant 
as  it  was  adopted  in  the  church  organized  ten  years  later  in 
London  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Henry  Jacob.  The  manner 
in  which  Jacob's  Church  was  formed  in  1616,  has  been  re- 
corded most  fully  in  the  W.  A.  Jessey  Records,  found  in  the 
Gould  Manuscript.     The  following  is  the  account: 

The  Church  Anno  1616  was  gathered 
Hereupon  ye  said  Henry  Jacob  wth  Sabine  Staismore,  ...  & 
divers  others  well  informed  Saints  haveing  appointed  a  Day  to 
Seek  ye  Face  of  ye  Lord  in  fasting  &  Prayer,  wherein  that  pertic- 
ular  of  their  Union,  togeather  as  a'  Church  was  mainly  comended 
to  ye  Lord:  in  ye  ending  of  ye  Day  they  ware  United,  Thus.  Those 
who  minded  this  present  Union  &  so  joyning  togeather  joyned  both 
hands  each  wth  other  Brother  and  stood  in  a  Ringwise:  their  intent 
being  declared,  H  Jacob  and  each  of  the  Rest  made  some  confession 
or  Profession  of  their  Faith  &  Repentance,  some  ware  longer  some 
ware  briefer.  Then  they  Covenanted  togeather  to  walk  in  all  Gods 
Ways  as  he  had  revealed  or  should  make  known  to  them. 

The  covenant  idea  was  not  allowed  to  go  unchallenged. 
The  church  polity  of  the  Puritans  was  avowedly  based  on  the 
New  Testament  and  the  word  "covenant"  came  to  them  out 
of  the  Old  Testament.  In  1588,  Stephen  Bredwell  published  a 
book  called  "The  Rasing  of  the  Foundations  of  Brownisme" 
in  which  he  attacked  the  covenant  idea.    He  said : 


A  Church  which  consisteth  of  beleeuing  people,  builded  so  by 
fayth,  vppon  lesus  Christ  the  heade  corner  stone  is  in  a  two  folde 
condition  to  be  considered:  the  first  is  the  verie  knitting  vnto 
Christ,  wherein  alone  standeth  the  life  and  beeing  of  a  Church,  and 
in  nothing  else. 

And  like  as  euerie  one  particularly  is  iustifyed  for  a  Christian, 
through  their  onely  vniting  with  Christ  by  fayth,  euen  so  are  manie 
together  iustified  for  a  Church  of  Christ,  through  such  vnion  with 


EARLY  ENGLISH   COVENANTS  46 

him  onely.  And  then,  if  this  vnion  giue  it  the  forme  of  a  Church, 
it  muste  necessarilie  bee  a  Church,  before  it  practise  discipline,, 
because  our  discipline  in  question  hath  no  place,  but  in  an  vnited 
bodie,  or  congregation. 

The  other  thing  that  I  would  haue  the  reader  perfect  in  is  this : 
that  this  Troublechurch  Browne,  not  receyuing  the  loue  of  the 
trueth,  touching  the  being  of  a  Church  in  Christ  by  faith,  but  striu- 
ing  for  other  groundes  and  essentiall  causes  thereof,  which  the 
Lorde  neuer  acknowledged,  is  (in  a  heauie,  though  iust  iudgeanent), 
compassed  about  with  a  strong  delusion,  so  as  hee  hath  not  ab- 
stained from  defiling  the  verie  couenant  of  life,,  to  his  owne,  and 
all  that  follow  after  him,  most  certaine  destruction,  if  the  balr'ne  of 
Gods  grace  bee  not  sent  in  time  to  heale  them.  For  in  the  forepart 
of  his  answere  to  maister  Cartwright,  he  miserablie  confoundeth  the 
couenant  of  the  lawe  with  the  couenant  of  the  Gospel.  Whereof  the 
first  hath  the  condition  of  workes  a  part:  the  other  is  made  simplie 
without  condition  of  workes,  if  we  belieue  only.  He  abuseth  to  his 
purpose  a  number  of  places,  all  which  proue  that  the  establishment 
of  the  couenant  of  grace  hath  necessarily  good  works  ioyned  with- 
all,  as  effects  or  fruits,  but  not  as  causes,  and  so  any  part  of  the 
couenant,  as  he  grossely  supposeth. 

The  matter  of  a  church  wee  haue.  Let  us  nowe  see  what  may 
be  the  fourme.  .  .  For  as  it  is  likewise  agreeable  to  all  reason,  that 
the  vnitmg  and  knitting  together  of  Christ  and  Christians,  bee 
graunted  the  formall  cause  of  a  Church.  Nowe  this  vnition  is  by 
two  meanes.  the  one  eternall,  the  other  seruing  but  for  this  life 
The  temporal  vnition,  which  (as  I  sayd)  serueth  for  this  life,  is' by 
faith:  which  shall  cease  in  the  day  of  the  reuelation  of  the  Saincts 
of  God.  .  .  Meane  time,  faith  is  as  the  engrafting  of  the  braunches 
into  the  stock. 

Here  we  meete  with  that  foolishe  and  vayne  exception  of 
Browne  agaynst  Ma.  C.  [artwright]  namely.  That  Christ  is  the  life 
and  essence  of  the  Church,  and  not  faith,  which  is,  as  though  faith 
had  not  direct  relation  to  Christ,  and  Christ  to  faith  in  this  con'^id- 
eration  of  a  Church,  wherein  neyther  can  fayth  bee  considered  with- 
out Christ,  nor  yet  Christ  as  theyr  head  without  faith. 

The  Anabaptists  had  been  forerunners  in  the  employment 
of  the  covenant  idea,  and  Baptist  authors  have  sometimes  in- 
sisted that  the  early  Congregationalists,  not  even  excepting 
Robert  Browne,  must  have  learned  it  from  the  Baptists.  But 
the  Baptists  ceased  to  hold  it  as  their  owii.  In  proportion  as 
they  laid  emphasis  upon  the  mode  of  baptism  the  supreme 
importance  of  the  covenant  ceased  to  occupy  its  place  in  their 
thought;  while  with  the  Congregationalists  the  covenant  at- 
tained to  an  importance  little  if  anything  less  than  sacra- 
mental. 


46     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

In  a  book  entitled  "A  Defence  of  the  Doctrine  Propound- 
ed by  the  Syuode  at  Dort :  against  lohn  Mvrton  and  his  Asso- 
ciates, in  a  Treatise  intutled;  A  Description  what  God,  &c. 
"With  the  Refutation  of  their  Answer  to  a  Writing  touching 
Baptism.  By  lohn  Robinson.  Printed  in  the  year,  1624, "  are 
the  following  passages,  referring  to  Murton's  mature  views 
concerning  the  formation  of  churches  of  Christ: 

Now  followeth  our  main  foundation,  that  as  the  infants  of  Abra- 
ham, and  of  the  Israelites  his  posterity,  were  talten  into  the  Church- 
covenant,  or  covenant  of  life  and  salvation,  as  they  [Murton  and  his 
associates]  call  it  (and  rightly  in  a  true  sense)  with  their  parents, 
and  circumcised:  so  are  the  infants  of  the  faithfull  now,  and  to 
receiv  accordingly  the  seal  of  Baptism:  to  which  they  say,  and 
proue  (as  they  say)  that  neither  Circumcision  was,  nor  Baptism  is 
a  seal  of  the  Covenant  of  salvation,  but  the  spirit  of  promise  which 
is  ever  the  same. 

Murton  and  his  associates  teach: 

That  members,  and  Churches  of  Christ  are  made  both  by  faith, 
and  baptism,  and  not  by  the  one  only.  They  oft  say,  but  never 
proue,  that  Churches  are  gathered  by  baptism. 

Commenting  on  the  above  Burrage  says,  ' '  From  the  above 
quoted  passages  alone  we  are  obliged  to  draw  our  conclusions 
as  to  the  method  used  in  forming  the  earliest  Baptist  churches 
in  England.  One  point  is  clear,  namely,  that  from  1611  at 
least  Mui'ton  and  Hel\r\^s  emphasized  repentance,  faith,  and 
especially  baptism  as  the  means  of  ' '  gathering ' '  or  organizing 
a  Christian  church.  It  would  also  appear  that  even  from 
1608  or  1609  they  had  held  this  view  with  Smyth,  and  had 
formed  their  first  church  by  baptism,  though  as  we  have  seen, 
they  probably  made  also  covenant  promises.  But  after  Smyth 
and  his  followers  had  been  driven  out,  Hehrv^s  and  Murton 
evidently  continued  to  modify  their  opinions  till  the  idea  of  a 
church  covenant  became  of  no  importance. 

"From  this  time  their  churches  were  to  be  gathered  by 
faith  and  baptism.  With  them  baptism  had  come  to  take  the 
place  of  a  church  covenant,  for  one  now  entered  the  church  by 


EARLY   ENGLISH   COVENANTS  47 

baptism.  However,  in  a  sense  the  covenant  idea  was  still 
maintained  by  them,  but  not  the  church  covenant  idea  of 
Bro\\aie.  Baptist  churches  were  not  to  be  outside  the  covenant 
promises  because  they  did  not  use  an  explicit  church  covenant. 
Baptism  is,  as  it  were,  the  act  of  making  an  implicit  covenant, 
or  rather  is  the  means  of  entering  into  the  new  covenant, 
which  is  not  a  church  covenant,  but  is  a  'covenant  of  grace 
and  salvation,'  the  covenant  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
always  remains  the  same,  has  been  made  forever  on  God's  part, 
and  the  benefits  of  which  may  be  had  by  any  who  believe  the 
gospel  and  are  baptized. 

''It  is  therefore  probable  that  even  when  Helwys  and 
IMurton  founded  the  first  Baptist  church  in  England  at  Lon- 
don, no  explicit  church  covenant  was  employed,  and  if  not 
then,  certainly  not  later. — The  Covenant  Idea,  pp.  77-78. 

Burrage  also  says  of  Baptist  Churches  in  America,  "The 
two  earliest  Baptist  Churches  in  this  countiy  were  organized 
before  1B40,  namely  the  First  Church  in  Providence,  K.  I., 
formed  in  1638,  and  the  church  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  founded  not 
long  after.  The  Providence  church,  however,  never  adopted  a 
covenant,  and  the  records  of  the  NcAvport  church  in  the  early 
days  were  in  the  hands  of  the  pastors,  and  have  but  partially 
been  preserved,  so  that  its  original  church  covenant,  if  indeed 
there  was  one,  is  no  longer  known." — The  Covenant  Idea, 
p.  95. 


V.     THE   PILGRIM  COVENANT 

Most  interesting  and  important  among  all  the  early  cove- 
nants is  that  of  the  church  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  This  cove- 
nant is  referred  to  by  Cotton  Mather  in  his  Magnalia,  and 
given  in  substance  in  Bradford's  History,  and  partially  also 
in  Edward  Winslow's  ''Hypocrisie  Unmasked."  This  church 
had  its  beginning  at  Gainsborough — 1602.  It  is  thought  to 
have  remained  intact  till  1606,  when  some  of  the  members 
removed  to  Scrooby,  where  John  Robinson  became  their  pas- 
tor. In  1607  and  1608  this  section  of  the  church  went  to,  Am- 
sterdam, and  in  1609  to  Leyden.  The  other  part  of  the  church 
in  1607,  with  the  pastor,  John  Smyth,  later  founder  of  the 
English  General  Baptists,  crossed  to  Amsterdam. 

Prof.  Edward  Arber,  f.  s.  a.,  in  his  ''Story  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers,"  has  suggested  some  new  points  in  regard  to  the 
churches  at  Gainsborough  and  Scrooby  that  are  important  for 
us,  as  they  bear  indirectly  upon  the  covenants  used  in  tliese 
churches. 

Speaking  of  the  peasants  of  the  Pilgrim  District  he  says : 

Herein,  They  were  more  fortunate  in  their  intellectual  develop- 
ment than  Shakespeare.  They  had  educated  leaders.  He  had  none. 
Clyfton,  Brewster,  Robinson  ,and  Smyth  were  all  Cambridge  Uni- 
versity men;  and  but  for  them  there,  never  would  have  been  any 
Pilgrim  Fathers  at  all.  So  going  back  to  the  ultimate  facts,  we 
say  that  the  Pilgrim  movement  originated  in  the  rectory  and  church 
of  Babworth  in  Nottinghamshire;  and  that  it  was  mainly  a  Notting- 
hamshire movement. 

To  this  rectory,  then,  some  forty-five  months  before  Governor 
Bradford  was  born,  came  this  Derbyshire  man,  the  Rev.  Richard 
Clyfton,  aet.  33.  He  was  what  was  then  called  a  "forward  [advanced] 
preacher,  or  a  reformist." 

We  have  adduced,  at  pp.  133,  134,  irrefutable  evidence  that,  on 
the  22d  March,  1605,  the  Rev.  John  Smyth  was  still  a  conformist 
minister,  and  preacher  of  the  city  of  Lincoln.    So  that,  at  that  date, 

48 


THE   PILGRIM   COVENANT  49 

he  had  not  even  come  to  Gainsborough,  where,  after  nine  months  of 
doubting,  he  finally  adopted  the  principles  of  the  Separation.  The 
formation  of  the  Gainsborough  Church  cannot  therefore  be  earlier 
than  1606. 

We  are  not  aware  of  any  evidence  tending  to  prove  in  the 
slightest  degree  that  Robinson  was  ever  a  member  of  Smyth's 
church;  and  we  have  proved,  at  pp.  133,  134,  that  the  Gainsborough 
Church  was  not  established  till  1606.  Therefore  if  Robinson  went 
north  in  1604,  he  must  have  gone  to  Scrooby." 

So  that,  although  Clyfton  deserted  the  Pilgrim  church  in  1609, 
he  must  ever  be  regarded  as  the  senior  of  the  leaders  of  that 
Separation.  .  .  The  Separatist  movement  continued  to  grow;  but, 
as  Governor  Bradford  tells  us  at  page  70,  the  church  at  Scrooby  was 
not  formally  organized  till  1606,  when  the  late  rector  of  Babworth 
[Clyfton]  became  its  pastor,  and  the  Rev.  John  Robinson  became 
his  assistant,  with  probably  one  or  more  deacons. — "The  Story  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  1606-1623  A.  D.;  as  told  by  Themselves,  their 
Friends,  and  their  Enemies."  London,  Boston,  and  New  York,  1897, 
pp.  48-52,  54. 

Apparently  the  first  covenant  was  in  1602,  and  of  it  Cot- 
ton Mather  says, — 

A  Number  of  devout  and  serious  Christians  in  the  English 
Nation,  finding  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  in  that  Nation,  ac- 
cording to  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  Design  of  many  among  the 
First  Reformers,  to  labour  under  a  sort  of  hopeless  Retardation, 
they  did.  Anno  1602,  in  the  North  of  England,  enter  into  a  Cove- 
nant, wherein  expressing  themselves  desirous,  not  only  to  attend 
the  Worship  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  a  freedom  from  humane 
Inventions  and  Additions,  but  also  to  enjoy  all  the  Evangelical 
Institutions  of  that  Worship,  they  did  like  those  Macedonians,  that 
are  therefore  by  the  Apostle  Paul  commended,  give  themselves  up, 
first  unto  God,  and  then  to  one  another. 

The  text  of  the  covenant  adopted  at  Scrooby  in  1606  is 
contained  in  the  following  passage  from  Bradford : 

So  many  therefore  of  these  proffessors  as  saw  ye  evill  of  these 
things,  in  ties  parts  and  whose  harts  ye  Lord  had  touched  wth 
heavenly  zeale  for  his  trueth,  they  shooke  of  this  yoake  of  anti- 
christian  bondage,  and  as  ye  Lords  free  people,  joyned  them  selves 
(by  a  covenant  of  the  Loi'd)  into  a  church  estate,  in  ye  fellowship 
of  ye  gospell,  to  walke  in  all  his  wayes,  made  known,  or  to  be  made, 
known  unto  them,  according  to  their  best  endeavours,  whatsoever 
it  should  cost  them,  the  Lord  assisting  them. 

Edward  Winslow's  recollection  in  1646  of  John  Robin- 
son's last  word  concerning  this  covenant,  in  his  farewell  ad- 


50     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

dress  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  is  that  ' '  Here  also  he  put  us  in 
mind  of  our  Church-Covenant  (at  least  that  part  of  it)  where- 
by wee  promise  and  covenant  with  God  and  one  with  another, 
to  receive  whatsoever  light  or  truth  shall  be  made  known  to 
us  from  his  written  Word." 

Of  the  sacredness  of  the  covenant  idea  as  it  was  held  in 
the  church  of  the  Pilgrims,  we  are  assured  in  many  ways, 
especially  in  a  letter  signed  by  John  Robinson  and  William 
Brewster,  and  dated  Leyden,  December  15,  1617,  to  Sir  EdAvin 
Sandys,  in  reply  to  a  letter  of  his  dated  London,  Nov.  12,  1617. 
This  answer  contains  a  direct  reference  to  the  church  cove- 
nant : 

"4:.  We  are  knit  together  as  a  body  in  a  more  strict  and 
sacred  bond  and  covenant  of  the  Lord,  or  the  violation  of 
which  we  make  conscience ;  and  by  virtue  whereof  we  do  hold 
ourselves  straightly  tied  to  all  care  of  each  other's  good,  and 
of  the  whole  by  every,  and  so  mutual." — New  England's 
Memorial,  1669,  by  Nathaniel  Morton. 


Vl.     CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY  COVENANTS 

The  church  covenant  idea  was  not  simply  popular  in  New 
England,  it  became  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  its 
life  and  organization.  Originally  intended  as  a  basis  for 
churches,  it  came  in  time  to  be  used  for  the  organization  of 
towns.  A  notable  instance  is  that  of  Guilford,  Conn.,  es- 
tablished in  1639.  The  covenant  was  signed  on  shipboard 
before  the  colonists  reached  New  England  and  was  signed  by 
twenty-five  colonists.  Doubtless  this  method  would  have  be- 
come still  more  general  had  it  not  been  that  in  1631  the  Massa- 
chusetts General  Court  prescribed  that  the  franchise  should 
be  limited  to  church  members.  As  therefore  the  church  or- 
ganization and  the  town  organization  w^ere  virtually  identical 
there  was  seldom  need  of  a  separate  covenant  for  the  town 
and  the  Guilford  covenant  stands  as  a  notable  example  of 
the  application  of  the  church  covenant  idea  to  to^\^l  organi- 
zation.    The  covenant  is  as  follows: 

We  whose  names  are  hereunder  written,  intending  by  God's 
gracious  permission  to  plant  ourselves  in  New  England,  and,  if  it 
may  be,  in  the  southerly  part  about  Quinnipiack,  we  do  faithfully 
promise  each  to  each,  for  ourselves  and  our  families,  and  those 
that  belong  to  us,  that  we  will,  the  Lord  assisting  us,  sit  down  and 
join  ourseaves  together  in  one  entire  plantation,  and  to  be  helpful 
each  to  the  other  in  any  common  work,  according  to  every  man's 
ability,  and  as  need  shall  require;  ...  As  for  our  gathering  to- 
gether in  a  church  way,  and  the  choice  of  officers  and  members  to 
be  joined  together  in  that  way,  we  do  refer  ourselves  until  such 
time  as  it  shall  please  God  to  settle  us  in  our  plantation.— Rev.  J.  B. 
Felt,  in  "Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England,"  Vol.  1,  pp.  406,  407. 

Another,  and  important  instance  of  the  covenant  used  as 
the  basis  of  organization  both  for  community  and  church,  was 
that  of  New  Haven.  Led  by  Davenport  and  Eaton,  the  found- 
Scripture  holds  forth."    "During  these  toilsome  first  months 

61 


52     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ers  had  arrived  at  ''their  desired  haven"  in  the  early  spring 
of  1638,  but  not  until  fourteen  months  later,  after  much 
prayer,  study  and  discussion,  did  they  consider  the  business 
fully  mature  for  action.  Soon  after  their  landing  they  had 
made  a  provisional  "plantation  covenant"  mutually  pledging 
themselves  to  be  governed  in  their  future  action  relating  either 
to  the  church  or  to  the  civil  order,  * '  by  those  rules  which  the 
of  the  new  plantation,"  says  Bacon,  "while  their  views  of 
polity  in  church  and  state  were  so  deliberately  canvassed,  they 
were  not  without  organization.  The  town  was  'cast  into  sev- 
eral private  meetings  wherein  they  that  dwelt  most  together 
gave  their  accounts  one  to  another  of  God's  gracious  work 
upon  them,  and  prayed  together,  and  conferred  to  mutual 
edification,  and  had  knowledge  one  of  another.'  "  When  at 
last  they  were  assembled  in  Mr.  Newman's  barn  the  solemni- 
ties of  the  day  were  introduced  by  a  sermon  from  Davenport 
on  this  text,  ' '  Wisdom  hath  builded  her  house ;  she  hath  hewn 
out  her  seven  pillars."  By  common  consent  it  was  agreed 
' '  that  twelve  men  be  chosen,  that  their  fitness  for  the  founda- 
tion-work may  be  tried;"  and  "that  it  be  in  the  power  of 
these  twelve  to  choose  out  of  themselves  seven  that  shall  be 
most  approved  of  the  major  part,  to  begin  the  church."  It 
was  the  14th  of  June,  1639,  when  "the  seven  pillars"  were 
hewn  out.  By  covenant  among  themselves,  and  by  receiving 
others  into  the  same  compact,  it  was  held  that  a  church  was 
constituted  on  the  22d  of  August.  "With  one  accord  they 
accepted  so  much  of  the  Separatist  polity  as  to  hold  that  the 
church  existed  by  virtue  of  a  mutual  agreement  (either  tacit 
or  expressed)  among  certain  individual  believers  that  they 
would  be  a  church.  It  is  easy  to  believe  that  the  example  and 
argument  of  the  Plymouth  Separatists  had  less  to  do  in  bring- 
ing them  to  this  position,  than  the  exigencies)  of  the  situation. 
To  the  extreme  tenets  of  the  extreme  Separatists,  renouncing 
fellowship   with  faithful   ministers   and  worshippers  in   the 


CHURCH   AND    COMMUNITY   COVENANTS  53 

Church  of  England,  the  churches  of  New  England  generally 
gave  no  adhesion." — Bacon:  Congregationalists,  p.  51. 

The  most  notable  example  of  the  use  of  the  covenant  idea 
in  secular  organization  is  afforded  us  in  the  relation  of  the 
Pilgrim  covenant  itself  to  that  of  the  Mayflower  Compact. 
That  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  notable  incidents  of  modem  history. 
The  new  edition  of  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  tells  that 
Theodore  Roosevelt  laid  the  cornerstone  of  the  Pilgrim  monu- 
ment in  Provincetown,  on  August  7,  1907,  and  that  somebody 
dedicated  it  three  years  later,  but  entirely  forgets  that  it  was 
William  H.  Taft  who  delivered  the  principal  address  on  the 
day  of  dedication.  We  have  been  reading  the  addresses  of 
both  presidents,  the  one  which  President  Taft  addressed  to 
the  people  who  heard  him,  and  the  one  which  President  Roose- 
velt addressed  to  Wall  Street,  and  those  of  the  eminent  speak- 
ers who  were  with  them  on  both  occasions.  All  were  addresses 
of  note ;  and  the  one  by  Senator  Lodge  on  the  first  occasion — 
for  he  was  the  one  man  who  spoke  on  both  occasions — was  a 
notable  interpretation  of  the  Mayflower  compact.  But  of  them 
all  on  both  days,  only  one  address,  that  by  President  Eliot, 
caught  the  historic  setting  of  the  Mayflower  compact. 

President  Roosevelt,  as  everybody  knows,  mixed  up  the 
Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans,  and  then  proceeded  to  hit  the  big 
corporations  with  a  big  stick.  To  this  day  they  remember  the 
Provincetown  address.  What  he  said  about  the  corporations 
does  not  now  concern  us.  What  he  said  about  the  Puritans, 
whom  he  supposed  landed  at  Provincetown,  was  this : 

"We  have  gained  a  joy  of  living  which  the  puritan  had 
not  and  which  it  is  a  good  thing  for  every  people  to  have  and 
to  develop.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  do  not  lose  what  is  more 
important  still,  that  we  do  not  lose  the  Puritan's  iron  sense 
of  duty,  his  unbending,  unflinching  will  to  do  the  right  as  it 
was  given  him  to  see  the  light. ' ' 


54     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

President  Taft  was  more  cautious  and  said  nothing  that 
disturbed  business.  He  delivered  a  short  and  graceful  address, 
in  which  he  said : 

''Other  efforts  had  been  made  on  the  New  England  coast 
to  found  colonies  for  profit  before  this.  But  theirs  was  the 
first  attempt  by  men  seeking  political  and  religious  independ- 
ence to  secure  an  asylum  in  America  where  they  might  escape 
the  fussy,  meddling,  narrow  and  tyrannical  restraints  imposed 
by  the  first  of  the  Stuarts.  Out  of  the  logic  of  their  intellect- 
ual processes  there  came  ultimatelj^  religious  freedom,  while 
in  their  energy  and  intensity  of  their  religious  faith  they  un- 
complainingly met  the  hardships  that  were  inevitable  in  their 
search  for  liberty." 

Ambassador  James  Bryce  spoke  appreciatively  of  America's 
heritage  from  the  Pilgrims,  and  said : 

* '  It  was  their  loyalty  to  truth  and  to  duty  that  moved  them 
to  quit  their  English  homes  and  friends  and  face  the  rigors 
of  a  winter  far  harsher  than  their  own  in  an  untrodden  land 
where  enemies  lurked  in  trackless  forests.  Faith  and  duty 
when  wedded  to  courage,  for  without  courage  they  avail  little, 
are  the  most  solid  basis  on  which  the  greatness  of  a  nation 
can  rest," 

Senator  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  delivered  a  really  able  ad- 
dress on  the  first  occasion,  and  one  of  considerable  value  on  the 
second.  He  had  some  difficulty  in  keeping  out  of  his  own  way, 
but  the  two  speeches  were  thoroughly  worthy  of  the  occasions 
on  which  they  were  delivered.  In  the  first  of  them  he  spoke 
wdth  fine  penetration  of  the  principles  of  the  Mayflower  Com- 
pact : 

"All  the  men  signed  the  compact.  The  compact  did  not 
establish  representative  government.  That  was  to  come  later, 
and  was  something  familiar  to  all  Englishmen.  It  was  not 
the  beginning  of  representative  government  on  this  continent ; 
that  had  taken  place  the  year  before,  when  the  Virginia  burg- 


CHURCH    AND    COMMUNITY    COVENANTS  55 

esses  were  summoned  by  the  Governor  in  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  a  charter  prepared  in  England.  The  men  in  the  May- 
flower were  called  to  their  task  by  no  governor,  and  their  com- 
pact was  not  drawn  in  England,  but  here.  It  was  the  volun- 
tary and  original  act  of  those  who  signed  it,  and  it  embodied 
two  great  principles  or  ideas.  The  firet  was  that  the  people 
themselves  joined  in  making  the  compact  each  with  the  other. 
The  second  principle  was  that  this  agreement  thus  made  was 
the  organic  law  or  constitution,  to  be  changed  only  in  great 
stress  and  after  submission  to  the  entire  body  politic  and 
^\^th  the  utmost  precaution.  The  force  and  worth  of  this  great 
conception  have  been  attested  since  by  almost  countless  con- 
stitutions of  governments,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Under 
that  theory  of  government  we  have  preserved  the  sober  liberty, 
freedom  and  ordered  liberty  which  have  been  the  glory  of  the 
Republic.  The  little  company  of  the  Mayflower,  pathetic  in 
their  weakness  and  suffering,  imposing  and  triumphant  in 
what  they  did,  has  belonged  to  the  ages  these  many  years. 
The  work  they  wrought  has  endured,  and  we  would  not  barter 
their  inheritance  for  the  heritage  of  kings.  But  that  which 
was  greatest  in  their  work  Avas  the  conception  of  the  organic 
law  embodied  in  the  compact,  a  conception  full  of  wisdom 
and  patience,  prefiguring  a  conmionwealth  in  which  order 
and  progress  were  to  go  hand  in  hand." 

But  for  a  real  interpretation  of  the  religious  history  lying 
back  of  the  compact,  it  remained  for  President  Eliot  to  refer 
to  that,  and  to  trace  the  evolution  of  the  compact  from  the 
earlier  covenant  to  the  church.    He  said : 

"In  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  on  the  21st  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1620,  all  the  adult  males  of  the  company  signed  a  com- 
pact by  Avhich  they  set  up  a  government  which  did  not  derive 
its  powers,  like  all  previous  colonies,  from  a  sovereign  or  par- 
ent state,  but  rested  on  the  consent  of  those  to  be  governed 
and  on  manhood  suffrage.  The  act  was  apparently  unpre- 
meditated, and  the  language  of  the  compact  was  direct  and 


56     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

simple.  It  was  an  agreement,  or  covenant,  or  cooperative  act, 
from  which  was  to  spring  not  only  a  stable  government  for  the 
little  colony,  but  a  great  series  of  constitutions  for  free  states. 
The  most  remarkable  phases  in  this  compact  are,  'covenant 
and  combine  ourselves  into  a  civil  body  politic, '  and  '  by  virtue 
hereof.'  ,  .  , 

''Although  the  signing  of  that  compact  was  a  sudden  act, 
caused  by  the  refusal  of  the  captain  of  the  Mayflower  on  the 
day  before  to  take  his  vessel  through  the  dangerous  shoals 
which  lie  off  the  southeastern  coast  of  Massachusetts  and  so 
bring  it  to  the  Hudson  River,  where  the  English  charter  ob- 
tained by  the  Pilgrims  before  leaving  Leyden  authorized  them 
to  establish  their  colony,  it  was  an  act  which  the  whole  ex- 
perience of  their  church  in  England  and  in  Holland,  and  the 
essence  of  the  doctrines  taught  by  their  pastor  and  elders  nat- 
urally though  unexpectedly  led  up  to.  They  had  been  trained 
to  disregard  all  authority  which  they  had  not  themselves  insti- 
tuted or  accepted,  and  they  had  also  become  accustomed  to 
cooperative  action  for  the  common  good.  Indeed,  the  whole 
doctrine  and  method  of  cooperative  good-will  cannot  be  better 
stated  today  than  it  was  stated  by  Robinson  and  Bradford  in 
1618  in  one  of  their  five  reasons  for  the  proposed  emigration 
from  Holland  to  America:  'We  are  knit  together  in  a  body 
in  a  most  strict  and  sacred  bond  and  covenant  of  the  Lord,  of 
the  violation  whereof  we  make  great  conscience,  and  by  virtue 
whereof  we  do  hold  ourselves  straightly  tied  to  care  of  each 
other 's  good  and  of  the  whole  by  every  one,  and  so  mutually. ' 
Eveiything  that  is  good  in  modern  socialism  is  contained  in 
that  single  sentence,  with  nothing  of  the  bad  or  foolish. ' ' 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  facts  in  the 
life  of  the  Pilgrim  community  that  later  settled  in  Pl;\Tnouth 
is  the  calm  and  undisputed  assurance  which  they  had  of  their 
right,  as  the  people  of  God,  to  organize  a  Church  with  full 
authority  to  do  all  that  any  church  could  do,  and  later  to 
establish  a  State  with  trial  by  jury,  and  the  right  to  enact 


CHURCH   AND    COMMUNITY   COVENANTS  57 

and  execute  just  laws,  not  even  excepting  the  right  to  inflict 
capital  punishment,  to  declare  war  and  to  enter  into  treaties. 
The  account  of  both  these  organizations  is  contained  in  the 
Bradford  manuscript,  the  first  apparently  in  the  year  1606, 
and  the  other  under  date  of  November  11,  Old  Style,  1620. 
The  earlier  of  these  two  initial  records  reads, — 

So  many  therefore  of  these  proffessors  as  saw  ye  evill  of  these 
things,  in  thes  parts,  and  whose  harts  ye  Lord  had  touched  with 
heavenly  zeal  for  his  trueth,  they  shooke,  of  this  yoake  of  anti- 
christian  bondage,  and  as  ye  Lord's  free  people,  joyned  them  selves 
(by  a  covenant  of  the  Lord)  into  a  church  estate,  in  ye  fellowship 
of  ye  gospell,  to  walke  in  all  his  wayes,  made  known  or  to  be  made 
known  to  them,  according  to  their  best  endeavours,  whatever  it 
should  cost  them,  the  Lord  assisting  them.  And  that  it  cost  them 
something  this  ensewing  historie  will  declare. 

In  the  organization  of  this  and  similar  churches,  they 
asked  no  authority  from  any  king,  pope  or  bishop.  As  *'the 
Lord's  free  people"  they  created  a  Church,  and  obtained 
their  authority  direct  from  God. 

It  is  no  accident  that  records  the  church  organization 
first  and  the  organization  of  the  civil  body  later.  The  common 
phrase  which  speaks  of  "civil  and  religious  liberty"  inverts 
the  historic  order.  Religious  liberty  came  first,  and  civil  lib- 
erty grew  out  of  it. 

In  quite  as  dignified  a  manner,  and  one  as  free  from  any 
question  of  their  inherent  right,  they  organized  their  State, 
not  as  a  poor  substitute  for  royal  authority,  but  as  something 
"as  firme  as  any  patent"  from  the  Crown,  "and  in  some  re- 
spects more  sure." 

I  shall  a  litle  returne  backe  and  begine  with  a  combination 
made  by  them  before  they  came  ashore,  being  ye  first  foundation  of 
their  governmente  in  this  place;  occasioned  partly  by  ye  discon- 
tented and  mutinous  speeches  that  some  of  the  strangers  amongst 
them  had  let  fall  from  them  in  ye  ship — That  when  they  came 
ashore  they  would  use  their  own  libe,rtie;  for  none  had  power  to 
command  them,  the  patente  they  had  being  for  Virginia,  and  not  for 
New-england,  which  belonged  to  an  other  Government,  with  which 
ye  Virginia  Company  had  nothing  to  doe.    And  partly  that  shuch  an 


58     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

acte  by  them  done   (this  their  condition  considered)    might  be  as 
firme  as  any  patent,  and  in  some  respects  more  sure. 

The  forme  was  as  followeth: 

In  ye  name  of  God,  Amen.  We  whose  names  are  underwriten, 
the  loyall  subjects  of  our  dread  soveraigne  Lord,  King  James,  by 
ye  Grace  of  God,  of  Great  Britaine,  Franc,  &  Ireland  king,  defender 
of  ye  faith,  &  c,  haveing  undertaken,  for  ye  glorie  of  God,  and  ad- 
vancemente  of  ye  Christian  faith,  and  honour  of  our  Ifing  &  coun- 
trie,  a  voyage  to  plant  ye  first  colonie  in  ye  Northerne  parts  of 
Virginia,  doe  by  these  presents  solemnly  &  mutualy  in  ye  presence 
of  God,  and  one  of  another,  covenant  &  combine  our  selves  togeather 
into  a  civill  body  politick,  for  our  better  ordering  &  preservation  & 
furtherance  of  ye  ends  aforesaid;  and  by  vertue  hearof  to  enacte, 
constitute,  and  frame  such  just  &  equall  lawes,  ordinances,  acts, 
constitutions,  &  offices,  fi'om  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most 
meete  &  convenient  for  ye  generall  good  of  ye  Colonie,  unto  which 
we  pix)mise  all  due  submission  and  obedience.  In  witness  wherof 
we  have  hereunder  subscribed  our  names  at  Cape-Codd  ye  11,  of 
November,  in  ye  year  of  ye  raigne  of  our  soveraigne  lord.  King 
James,  of  England,  Franc,  &  Ireland  ye  eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland 
ye  fiftie  fourth.    Ano:  Dom.  1620. 

The  government  of  the  Congregational  Churches,  and  of 
the  United  States  are  closely  related  both  in  substance  and  in 
history.  The  form  of  government,  which  the  Pilgrims  based 
on  manhood  suffrage  and  the  authority  of  God  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Church,  they  wrought  into  the  foundation  of  their 
little  republic  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Virtually  a  goveniment 
which  derives  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed 
is  a  government  based  on  a  covenant  between  the  citizens  and 
the  commonwealth. 


VII.    EARLY  AMERICAN  COVENANTS 

AVhether  the  Puritan  churches  of  New  England  would 
follow  the  Plymouth  Church  in  its  form  of  organization,  was 
a  more  important  question  than  any  one  at  the  time  could  well 
have  realized.  The  opportune  visit  of  Doctor  (and  Deacon) 
Fuller  of  Plymouth  to  Salem  at  the  time  of  a  general  sickness 
in  Salem  appears  to  have  had  much  to  do  Avith  dispelling  the 
erroneous  impression  of  the  leaders  of  the  Salem  colony  con- 
cerning the  supposed  dangers  of  the  Plymouth  form  of  organi- 
zation. Whatever  prejudgments  the  Salem  people  had  formed 
against  the  Separatists  melted  away  under  the  kindly  minis- 
trations of  Deacon  Fuller,  and  under  his  statement  of  the 
principles  and  usages  of  the  Plymouth  church.  The  letter  of 
thanks  from  Endicott  to  the  governor  of  Plymouth  is  a  classic 
in  American  church  history,  and  a  fine  tribute  to  the  good 
work  which  Dr.  Fuller  did  for  the  body  and  soul  of  Salem : 

To  the  Worshipful  and  my  right  worthy  Friend,  William  Bradford, 

Esq.,  Governor  of  New  Plymouth,  these: 
Right  Worthy  Sir: 

It  is  a  thing  not  usual  that  servants  to  one  master  and  of  the 
same  household  should  be  strangers;  I  assure  you  I  desire  it  not — 
nay,  to  speak  more  plainly,  I  cannot  be  so  to  you.  God's  people  are 
marked  with  one  and  the  same  mark  and  sealed  with  one  and  the 
same  seal,  and  have,  for  the  main,  one  and  the  same  heart  guided  by 
one  and  the  same  Spirit  of  truth;  and  where  this  is  there  can  be 
no  discord — nay,  there  must  needs  be  sweet  harmony.  The  same 
request  with  you  I  make  unto  the  Lord,  that  we  may,  as  Christian 
brethren,  be  united  by  a  heavenly  and  unfeigned  love,  bending  all 
our  hearts  and  forces  in  furthering  a  work  beyond  our  strength. 
with  reverence  and  fear  fastening  our  eyes  always  on  him  that  only 
is  able  to  direct  and  prosper  all  our  ways. 

I  acknowledge  myself  much  bound  to  you  for  your  kind  love, 
and  care  in  sending  Mr.  Fuller  among  us;  and  I  rejoice  much  that 
I  am  by  him  satisfied  touching  your  judgments  of  the  outward  form 
of  God's  worship.    It  is  as  far  as  I  can  yet  gather,  no  other  than  is 

59 


60     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

warranted  by  the  evidence  of  truth,  and  the  same  which  I  have 
professed  and  maintained  ever  since  the  Lord  in  mercy  revealed 
himself  to  me ;  being  very  far  different  from  the  common  report  that 
hath  been  spread  of  you  touching  that  particular.  But  God's  child- 
ren must  not  look  for  less  here  below,  and  it  is  the  great  mercy  of 
God  that  he  strengthens  them  to  go  through  with  it. 

I  shall  not  need  at  this  time  to  be  tedious  unto  you;  for,  God 
willing,  I  purpose  to  see  your  face  shortly.  In  the  meantime,  I 
humbly  take  my  leave  of  you,  committing  you  to  the  Lord's  blessed 
protection,  and  rest.     Your  assured  loving  friend  and  servant, 

John  Endicott. 

The  Salem  church  was  organized  in  1629  with  the  follow- 
ing covenant,  only  forty-one  words  in  length : 

The  Salem  Covenant  of  1629. 

We  Covenant  with  the  Lord  and  one  with  another;  and  doe 
bynd  ourselves  in  the,  presence  of  God,  to  walke  together  in  all  his 
waies,  according  as  he  is  pleased  to  reveale  himself  unto  us  in  his 
Blessed  word  of  truth. 

The  church  in  Dorchester  was  organized  with  a  similar 
covenant  and  probably  of  no  greater  length,  though  its  exact 
text  has  been  lost. 

Concerning  the  early  Puritan  churches,  Edward  Winslow, 
in  describing  the  way  in  which  the  Massachusetts  men,  in  some 
things,  copied  after  the  Plymouth  way,  says : 

Which  being  by  them  well  weighed  and  considered,  they 
also  entred  into  Covenant  with  God,  and  one  with  another  to 
Wfolke  in  all  Ms  wayes  revealed,  or  as  tJiey  sliould  hee  made 
hnowne  unto  tliem,  and  to  worship  Jiim  according  to  Ms  will 
revealed  in  Ms  written  word  onely. — Hypocrisie  Unmasked, 
etc.  (1646),  92. 

There  was  little  discussion,  if  any,  concerning  the  length 
or  precise  content  of  church  covenants.  Each  minister  v^rrote 
his  own.  The  value  was  never  assumed  to  be  in  a  precise  form 
of  words,  but  there  were  discussions  as  to  whether  the  cove- 
nant should  be  assented  to  orally,  or  whether  silence  might 
give  consent  to  a  covenant  publicly  read,  and  as  to  whether 
a  covenant  should  be  signed.    No  great  stress  was  laid  upon 


EARLY   AMERICAN   COVENANTS  61 

these  discussions,  but  in  general  there  was  little  disposition  to 
insist  upon  signing  the  covenant;  confession  with  the  mouth, 
in  the  presence  of  God 's  people,  was  deemed  the  more  orderly 
way. 

That  American  Puritan  churches  during  this  period  had 
decided  that  a  Christian  church  could  be  properly  formed 
without  use  of  an  explicit  covenant  is  seen  from  the  following : 
"Wee  frequently  acknowledge  that  this  Covenant  vfhich  con- 
stituteth  a  Church,  is  either  implicite  or  explicit e,  and,  that 
Congregations  in  England  are  truly  Churches  having  an  im- 
plicite covenant."  ("a  defence  of  the  Answer  made  unto 
the  Nine  Questions  or  Positioyis  sent  from  New-Englamd,"  etc. 
1645.    Preface,  p.  13). 

Professor  Walker,  in  speaking  of  the  implicitness  allow- 
able in  the  formation  of  early  American  Congregational 
churches  says:  '"the  'Cambridge  Platform'  asserted  that  a 
verbal  covenant  was  not  the  only  form  of  the  basal  agreement, 
for  'a  company  of  faithful  pei^ons'  express  such  a  union  'by 
their  constant  practise  in  coming  together  for  the  publick  wor- 
ship of  God,  &  by  their  religious  subjection  unto  the  ordi- 
nances of  God.'  "  ("Hist,  of  the  Congreg.  Churches."  Pp. 
217,  218.) 

The  passage  from  which  Professor  Walker  here  quotes 
as  given  in  "Creeds  and  Platforms,"  pp.  207,  208,,  reads  in 
full  as  follows : 

"4.  This  Voluntary  Agreement,  Consent  or  Covenant 
(for  all  these  are  here  taken  for  the  same)  :  Although  the  more 
express  and  plain  it  is,  the  more  fully  it  puts  us  in  mind  of 
our  mutuall  duty,  &  stirreth  us  up  to  it,  &  leaveth  losse  room 
for  the  questioning  of  the  Truth  of  the  Church-estate  of  a 
Company  of  professors,  &  the  Truth  of  membership  of  partic- 
ular persons:  [6]  yet  wee  conceive,  the  substance  of  it  is  kept, 
where  there  is  a  real  Agreement  &  consent,  of  a  company  of 
faithful  persons  to  meet  constantly  together  in  one  Congrega- 
tion, for  the  publick  worship  of  God,  &  their  mutuall  edifica- 


62     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

tion :  which  real  agreement  &  consent  they  doe  express  by  their 
constant  practise  in  comming  together  for  their  pnblick  wor- 
ship of  God,  &  by  their  religious  subjection  unto  the  ordi- 
nances of  God  there:  the  rather,  if  wee  doe  consider  how 
Scripture  covenants  have  been  entered  into,  not  only  expressly 
by  word  of  mouth,  but  by  sacrifice ;  by  hand  writing,  &  seal :  & 
also  sometimes  by  silent  consent,  without  any  writing,  or  ex- 
pression of  words  at  all. ' ' 

Robert  Baillie  in  his  "Diss\dsive  from  the  Errours  of  the 
Time,"  (London,  1645)  says: 

*'It  [the  church  covenant]  is  no  more  with  us  then  this, 
an  assent  and  resolution  professed  by  them  that  are  to  be  ad- 
mitted by  us,  with  promise  to  walk  in  all  these  wayes  per- 
taining to  this  Fellowship,  so  farre  as  they  shall  be  revealed 
to  them  in  the  Gospel ;  thus  briefly,  indefinitely  and  implicitly, 
in  such  like  words  and  no  more  or  othenvise,  do  we  apply  our 
answers  to  mens  consciences.  Church-covenant,  p.  36.  We 
deny  not,  but  the  Covenant  in  many  of  the  English  Congre- 
gations is  more  implicite,  and  not  so  plaine  as  Avere  to  bee 
desired ;  yet  there  wants  not  that  reall  and  substantiall  coming 
together  or  agreeing  in  Covenant." 

"William  Rathband  also  has  preserved  for  us  an  early 
definition  of  the  church  covenant  that  gives  the  following 
somewhat  more  complete  statement  of  its  proper  content: 

''And  thus  they  [the  Independents,  or  Congregational- 
ists]  define  it.  Its  a  solemne  and  publicke  Promise  before 
the  Lord  and  his  people,  whereby  a  companie  of  Christians 
called  (by  the  poAver  and  mercie  of  God)  to  the  fellowship  of 
Christ,  and  (by  his  providence)  to  dwell  together,  and  (by  his 
Grace)  to  love  and  cleave  together  in  the  unitie  of  faith  and 
brotherly  love,  and  desirous  to  partake  (according  to  the  will 
of  God)  in  all  the  holy  Ordinances  of  God  together  in  one 
Congregation,  doe  bind  themselves  to  the  Lord  to  walke  in 
such  wayes  of  holy  worship  to  him,  and  of  edification  one 
towards  another,  as  God  himselfe  hath  required  in  his  word  of 


EARLY   AMERICAN   COVENANTS  63 

every  Church  of  Christ  and  the  members  thereof..' ' — ' '  A  Brief 
Narration  of  Some  Church  Courses,"  etc.  London,  1644,  p. 
15,  16. 

The  suitable  content  of  an  explicit  church  covenant  per- 
haps is  even  more  fully  given^  in  Thomas  Lcchford  's  ' '  Plain 
Dealing  or,  News  from  New  England."  London,  1642.  He 
says : 

They  [the  American  Congregationalists]  solemnly  enter 
into  a  Covenant  with  Grod,  and  one  an  other  (which  is  called 
their  Church  Covenant,  and  held  by  them  to  constitute  a 
Church)  to  this  effect :  viz. 

To  forsake  the  Devill,  and  all  his  workes,  and  the  vanities  of 
thei  sinfull  world,  and  all  their  former  lusts,  and  corruptions,  they 
have  lived  and  walked  in,  and  to  cleave  unto,  and  obey  the  Loi'd 
Jesus  Christ,  as  their  onely  King  and  Lawgiver,  their  onely  Priest 
and  Prophet,  and  to  walke  togethea-  with  that  Church,  in  the  unity 
of  the  faith,  and  brotherly  love,  and  to  submit  themselves  one  unto 
an  other,  in  all  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  to  mutuall  edification,  and 
comfort,  to  watch  over,  and  support  one  another. 

As  the  Covenant  idea  in  England  had  not  been  permitted 
to  go  unchallenged,  so  in  America  it  had  to  defend  its  right 
to  exist.  The  English  Puritans  were  quite  concerned  over  the 
importance  attached  to  the  covenant  in  churches  on  this  side 
of  the  water.  John  Cotton's  "Questions  and  Answers  upon 
Church  Government"  had  as  a  part  of  its  mission  the  answer- 
ing of  objections  to  church  covenants,  and  Richard  Mather, 
the  unnamed  author  of  ' '  An  Apologie  of  the  Churches  in  New 
England  for  Church  Covenant,"  met  the  issue  directly. 

In  1643,  there  was  published  in  London  a  work  dated  six 
years  earlier,  relating  to  this  subject.  It  was  entitled,  "A 
Letter  of  Many  ]\Iinisters  in  Old  England,  Requesting  the 
Judgement  of  their  Reverend  Brethren  in  New  England  con- 
cerning Nine  Positions  Written  Anno  Dom.  1637,"  published 
at  London,  July  30,  1643.  The  following  quotations  from  this 
will  give  us  a  clear  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  English  Puritans' 
objections  to  the  church  covenant: 


64     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

That  Church  Covenant  which  is  necessary  was  not  in  use  in  the 
Apostles  times,  but  the  Covenant  they  entred  into  bound  no  man 
to  this  condition  for  ought  we  reade.  They  did  not  prescribe  it,  no 
church  ever  yet  covenanted  it  as  necessary  to  the  preservation  of 
the  body. 

And  here*  we  intreat  leave  to  put  you  in  minde  of  that  which 
you  have  considered  already,  schil.  That  the  Church  and  every 
member  thereof  hath  entred  into  Covenant,  either  expresly  or  im- 
plicitely  to  take  God  for  their  God,  and  to  keepe  the  words  of  the 
Covenant  and  doe  them,  to  seeke  the  Lord  with  all  their  hearts,  and 
to  walke  before  him  in  truth  and  uprightnesse:  but  we  nevef  finde 
that  they  were  called  to  give  account  of  the  worke  of  grace  wrought 
in  their  soules,  or  that  the  whole  Congregation  were  appointed  to 
be  Judge  thereof. 

The  second  thing  you  affirm  is,  that  not  only  the  covenant  of 
gi'ace  which  is  common  to  all  beleevers;  but  Church-Covenant  also 
which  is  peculiar  to  confederates  is  necessarie  to  the  participation 
of  the  Scales. 

The  chief  objection  to  the  covenant,  of  course,  was  that 
it  did  not  appear  in  the  New  Testament  as  an  essential  condi- 
tion of  church  membership.  To  this  Richard  Mather's  apol- 
ogie  replied : 

By  entring  into  Covenant  with  God,  a  people  come  to  be  the 
Lords  people,  that  is  to  say,  his  Church. 

2.  If  it  was  of  all  the  people  togethea-,  the  reason  was  because 
that  Church  was  a  nationall  Church:  now  if  a  nationall  Church  be- 
comes a  Church  by  entring  into  solemne  Covenant  with  God  then  a 
Congregationall  Church  becomes  a  Church  by  the  same  means. 

In  speaking  of  the  Covenant  of  the  Jewish  people  a  pas- 
sage is  quoted  to  the  effect  that 

this  Covenant  was  of  the  whole  Church  with  God  and  therefore  not 
like  our  Church-Covenants,  which  are  between  the  Church  and  the 
members,  concerning  watchfulnesse  over  one  another,  and  the  like. 

But  this  place  of  Deut.  29  is  not  sufficient  to  prove  a  Church- 
Covenant  in  these  days:  because  it  is  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  old 
Testament,  for  whatsoever  must  be  used  in  the  dayes  of  the  old 
Testament,  must  not  be  proved  from  the  Scriptures  of  the  New 
Testament,  or  else  it  is  to  be  layd  aside. 

But  suppose  there  were  not  pregnant  places  for  it  in  the  New 
Testament,  yet  it  is  not  enough  to  prove  the  same  unlawfull:  for 
whatsoever  Ordinance  of  the  old  Testament,  is  not  repealed  in  the 
New  Testament,  as  peculiar  to  the  Jewish  Paedagogie,  but  was  of 
morall  and  perpetuall  equitie,  the  same  bindes  us  in  these  dayes, 
and  is  to  be  accounted  the  revealed  will  of  God  in  all  ages. 


EARLY   AMERICAN   COVENANTS  65 

In  1648  appeared  Thomas  Hooker's  work,  entitled  "A 
Survey  of  the  Summe  of  Church-Discipline.  Wherein,  The 
Way  of  the  Churches  of  New  England  is  warranted  out  of  the 
Word."  This  contains  the  following  valuable  statements  in 
regard  to  the  church  covenant : 

That  then  which  gives  the  formality  of  these  Churches  we  are 
now  to  inquire:  and  the  conclusion  we  maintain  is  this,  Mutual 
covenanting  and  confoederating  of  the  Saints  in  the  fellowship  of 
the  faith  according  to  the  order  of  the,  Gospel  is  that  which  gives 
constitution  and  being  to  a  visible  church. 

2.  How  the  Covenant  may  be  expressed.  This  Covenant  is 
dispensed  or  acted  after  a  double  manner. 

Either  Explicitely  or  Implicitely. 

An  Explicite  Covenant  is,  when  there  is  an  open  expression  and 
profession  of  this  ingagejnent  in  tho  face  of  the  Assembly,  which 
persons  by  mutuall  consent  undertake  in  the  waies  of  Christ.  An 
Implicite  Covenant  is,  when  in  their  practice  they  do  that,  whereby 
they  make  themselves  ingaged  to  walk  in  such  a  society,  according 
to  such  rules  of  government,  which  are  exercised  amongst  them, 
and  so  submit  themselves  thereunto:  but  doe  not  make  any  verball 
profession  thereof. 

Quest.  If  it  be  here  inquired:  How  far  the  covenant  is  of  neces- 
sity required? 

Ans.  According  to  foregoing  expressions,  the  answer  may  be 
cast  into  these  conclusions  following. 

1.  An  Implicite  Covenant  preserves  the  true  nature  of  the  true 
Church,  because  it  carries  the  formalis  ratio  of  a  confoederation  In 
it,  by  which  a  Church  is  constituted.  For  Implicite  and  Explicite 
are  but  adjuncts,  and  these  separable  from  the  essence.  And  there- 
fore the  essence  and  being  of  the  covenant  may  consist  with  either. 

2.  In  some  cases  an  Implicite  covenant  may  be  fully  sufficient. 
As,  suppose  a  whole  congregation  should  consist  of  such,  who  were 
children  to  the  parents  now  deceased,  who  were  confoederate: 
Their  children  were  true  members  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
Gospel,  by  the  profession  of  their  fathers  covenant,  though  they 
should  not  make  any  personall  and  vocall  expression  of  their  in- 
gagement,  as  the  fathers  did. 

3.  Its  most  according  to  the  compleatnesse  of  the  rule,  and  for 
the  better  being  of  the  Church,  that  there  be  an  explicite  Covenant 
For 

1.  Thereby  the  judgement  of  the  members  comes  to  be  in- 
formed and  convinced  of  their  duty  more  fully. 

2.  They  are  thereby  kept  from  cavilling  and  starting  aside 
from  the  tenure  and  terms  of  the  covenant,  which  they  have 
professed  and  acknowledged,  before  the  Lord  and  so  many 
witnesses. 

3.  Thereby  their  hearts  stand  under  a  stronger  tye.  and  are 
more  quickened  and  provoked  to  doe  that,  which  they  have 
before  God  and  the  congregation,  ingaged  themselves  to  doe. 


66     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  method  of  using  the  church  covenant  among  the  early 
American  Congregationalists  is  indicated  in  their  denial: 
"That  we  make  a  vocall  Church  Oath  or  Covenant,  the  es- 
sentiall  forme  of  a  Church,  when  as  wee  frequently  ack^iow- 
leclge  that  this  Covenant  which  co7istituteth  a  Church,  is  either 
implicit e  or  explicit e;"  ("A  Defence  of  the  Answer  made 
unto  the  Nine  Questions  or  Positions,"  etc.,  1645,  Preface,  p. 
13.)  and  in  the  statement  of  the  English  Puritans  that  "there 
would  not  he  such  long  narrations,  of  every  one  severally  as 
now  are  used,  when  men  do  enter  into  Church-Covenant,  when 
each  one  makes  a  good  long  speech,  in  the  profession  of  his 
Faith  and  Repentance." — "An  Apologie  of  the  Churches  in 
New-England  for  Church-Covenant,"  etc., London,  1643, p.  29. 

A  clear  description  of  the  manner  in  which  early  Con- 
g'regational  covenants  were  used  in  New  England  is  given  in 
a  book  entitled  "A  Brief  Narration  of  the  Practices  of  the 
Churches  in  New-England,  in  their  solemne  Worship  of  God. 
London;  1647."     It  reads  as  follows: 

After  this  [i.  e.,  individual  "confession  of  faith"  and  "declaration 
of  .  .  .  effectual  calling"],  they  enter  into  a  sacred  and  solemne 
Covenant,  engagement,  profession  (call  it  what  you  please)  whereby 
they  protest  and  promise  (by  the  help  of  Christ)  to  walk  together 
as  becomes  a  Church  of  God,  in  all  duties  of  holinesse  before  the 
Lord,  and  in  all  brotherly  love  and  faithfulnesse  to  each  other,  ac- 
cording unto  God,  withall  producing  their  Covenant,  agreed  on 
before  amonst  themselves,  then  read  it  before  the  Assembly,  and 
then  either  subscribe  their  hands  to  it,  or  testifie  by  word  of  mouth 
their  agreement  thereto. 


VIII.    THE  HALF-WAY  COVENANT 

An  interesting,  and  in  some  respects  unfortunate,  devel- 
opment of  the  church  covenant  Idea,  Avas  the  Half -Way  Cove- 
nant, which  became  popular  throughout  New  England,  begin- 
ning about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  centur}\  The  second 
generation  of  New  England  inhabitants  had  lost  much  of  the 
piety  and  fervor  which  characterized  the  first  founders.  There 
were,  of  course,  many  faithful  men  and  women,  and  there 
were  some  who  were  outwardly  immoral  and  irreligious,  but 
between  these  two  was  a  third  class,  composed  of  men  and 
women  who  had  been  baptized  and  reared  in  the  Christian 
faith  and  who  were  generally  people  of  blameless  lives,  but 
who  could  not  claim  the  religious  experiences  by  which  their 
fathers  believed  themselves  to  have  passed  from  death  unto 
life.  The  first  question  which  perplexed  the  leaders  of  the 
churches  was  whether  these  people  should  be  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  Supper;  and  the  second  was  whether  their  children 
were  fit  subjects  for  baptism?  There  was  much  discussion  of 
these  questions,  but  it  came  to  be  held  that  these  men  and 
women  were  members  of  the  church  by  reason  of  their  baptism, 
and  capable  of  transmitting  membership  by  baptism  to  their 
children,  but  that  they  themselves  were  not  in  full  communion. 
This  result  was  reached,  first  by  the  Ministerial  Convention  of 
1657,  and  afterward  by  the  Synod  of  1662.  It  came  about 
gradually  and  not  without  opposition  and  prolonged  discus- 
sion. That  it  seemed  to  meet  a  need  of  the  time  and  that  in 
some  cases  it  produced  gratifying  results  we  are  not  left  to 
doubt.  The  history  of  the  movement  can  but  impress  the 
thoughtful  reader  with  the  genuine  Christian  earnestness  of 
the  men  who  devised  this  unhappy  compromise,  while  it  shows 

67 


68     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

the  inevitable  evil  attending  a  half -way  acceptance  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Of  the  conditions  which  gave  rise  to  the  Half- Way  Cove- 
nant, Dr.  Bacon  wrote: 

''A  conflict  seemed  to  be  growing  more  serious  with  the 
laps)e  of  every  year,  between  two  ideals,  both  dear  to  the  Puri- 
tan heart : — ^the  purity  of  the  church,  as  consisting  of  ' '  visible 
saints  and  their  children,"  and  the  parish  system  by  which 
the  whole  population  of  the  several  towns  should  be  held 
under  the  tutelage  of  the  churches.  The  growing  danger  was 
seriously  felt  by  both  parties.  The  churches  and  pastors  saw 
the  increasing  number  of  those  who  failed  to  pass  the  accepted 
criteria  of  membership,  and  were  in  danger  of  drifting  afar 
from  any  relation  to  the  church ;  and  on  the  other  hand  those 
who  had  been  baptized  into  the  church,  who  held  and  cher- 
ished the  truth  that  had  been  taught  them,  and  whose  lives 
were  without  reproach,  but  who  were  unable  to  testify  to  the 
conscious  experience  of  a  spiritual  change  from  death  to  life, 
found  not  only  themselves  debarred  from  the  communion,  but 
their  children  excluded  from  baptism  as  aliens  and  ' '  strangers 
from  the  covenants  of  the  promise. ' '  The  situation  was  grow- 
ing each  year  more  tense,  and  there  were  tendencies  in  two 
opposite  directions  towards  a  solution  of  it.  One  was  towards 
the  severely  logical  individualism  of  the  Baptists,  which  had 
no  place  for  infant  baptism  or  infant  church-membership. 
The  other  was  towards  ' '  the  parish  way, ' '  or  the  Presbyterian 
way,  according  to  which  the  baptized  children  of  the  parish, 
arriving  at  years  of  discretion  and  being  without  reproach, 
were  to  be  welcomed  to  the  Lord's  table.  That  the  accepted 
criterion  of  fitness  for  church-membership  was  fallacious,  that 
strictly  applied,  it  would  have  excluded  from  communion  the 
foremost  theologian  and  saint  of  the  contemporary  Puritan 
party,  Richard  Baxter  wasi  not  going  to  be  made  entirely  clear 
to  their  successors  until  six  generations  afterwards  (1847)  by 
Horace  Bushnell  in  his  treatise  of  '  Christian  Nurture. ' 


THE  HALF-WAY  COVENANT  69 

* '  The  divergence  of  opinion  and  of  practice  was  so  great 
and  so  manifestly  increasing  as  to  call  for  action  on  the  part 
of  the  colonial  legislatures — always  prone  to  an  exorbitant 
sense  of  their  responsibility  in  spiritual  matters.  In  1657  the 
Massachusetts  General  Court,  moved  thereto  by  Connecticut, 
invited  a  conference  of  leading  pastors  who,  gathering  at  Bos- 
ton to  the  number  of  seventeen,  gave  counsel  decidedly  in 
favor  of  a  more  relaxed  rule  than  that  of  the  Founders.  But 
this  M-as  far  fi'om  appeasing  the  controversy.  The  sincere  and 
painful  anxiety  of  such  venerated  men  as  Davenport  and 
Charles  Chauncy  prevailed  with  many  others  against  any 
abatement  of  the  conditions  of  membership  in  the  church. 
A  true  synod,  including  not  ministers  only  but  "messengers 
of  the  churches,"  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Boston  in  1662, 
and  the  number  in  attendance — more  than  seventy — was  proof 
of  the  gra\ity  of  the  question  at  issue.  After  protracted  and 
earnest  discussion,  by  a  great  majority  but  in  face  of  an  earn- 
est protest  from  some  of  the  best  men,  the  main  question  be- 
fore the  synod  was  thus  resolved : 

"Church-members  who  were  admitted  in  minority,  iinderstand- 
ing  the  doctrine  of  faith  and  publicly  professing  their  assent  there- 
to; not  scandalous  in  life,  and  solemnly  owning  the  covenant  before 
the  church,  wherein  they  give  up  themselves  and  their  children  to 
the  Lord  and  subject  themselves  to  the  government  of  Christ  in  the 
church, — their  children  are  to  be  baptized." 

"It  was  an  illogical  compromise  between  irreconcilable 
principles.  It  came,  indeed,  int«  general  use  in  New  England, 
but  never  with  universal  consent.  Instead  of  ending  contro- 
versy, it  intensified  it,  giving  rise  to  a  copious  polemical  litera- 
ture. In  conspicuous  instances,  as  in  Hartford  and  in  Boston, 
it  rent  churches  asunder.  From  New  Haven  the  great  and 
good  Davenport,  foreseeing  the  ruin  about  to  befall  his  cher- 
ished ideals  through  the  merger  of  that  little  republic  with 
Connecticut,  left  behind  him  the  fair  plain  that  was  dearer 
to  his  heart  than  native  land,  exclaiming  "in  New  Haven 


70     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

colony  Christ's  interest  is  miserably  lost,"  and  went  to  assiime, 
in  his  old  age,  the  pastoral  office  in  the  First  Church  in  Bos- 
ton, from  which  many  members  had  withdraAvii  to  practise  the 
less  rigid  system  in  the  Third  Boston  Chnrch — the  'Old 
South.'  The  'Half -Way  Covenant'  continued  in  general 
use- for  nearly  a  century,  until  it  melted  away  in  the  fervent 
heat  of  'the  Great  Awakening,'  or  withered  under  the  rigors 
of  the  Edwardean  theology. — Bacon  pp.  76-80. 

Not  every  Congregational  church  employed  the  Half -Way 
Covenant.  Individual  pastors  prepared  them  and  used  them, 
sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without  the  formal  authority 
of  the  local  church.  One  of  the  best  examples  quoted  by  Dr. 
Dexter  in  his  'Congregationalism  as  seen  in  its  Literature ' ' 
(page  476)  as  having  been  used  probably  by  the  old  North 
Church  in  Boston,  the  church  of  the  Mathers,  is  as  follows: 

You  now  from  your  heart  professing  a  serious  belief  to  the 
Christian  religion,  as  it  has  been  generally  declared  and  embraced 
by  the  faithful  in  this  place,  do  here  give  up  yourself  to  God  in 
Christ;  promising  with  his  help  to  endeavor,  to  walk  according  to 
the  rules  of  that  holy  religion,  all  your  days;  choosing  of  God  as 
your  best  good,  and  your  last  end,  and  Christ  as  the  Prophet,  and 
Priest,  and  the  king  of  your  soul  fore,ver.  You  doi  therefore  sub- 
mit unto  the  laws  of  his  kingdom,  as  they  are  administered  in  this 
church  of  his;  and  you  will  also  carefully  and  sincerely  labour 
after  those  more  positive  and  increased  evidences  of  regeneration, 
which  may  further  encourage  j'ou  to  seek  an  admission  unto  the 
table  of  the  Lord. 

Two  other  examples  of  Half- Way  covenants  are  that  of 
the  Salem  church,  preserved  in  the  Direction  of  1665,  and  that 
used  by  the  First  Church  in  Hartford  in  1696.  The  texts  of 
these  covenants  are  as  follows: 

The   Salem   Half-Way   Covenant. 

I  do  heartily  take  and  avouch  this  one  God  v/ho  is  made  known 
to  us  in  the  Scripture,  by  the  Name  of  God  the  Father,  and  God  the 
Son  even  Jesus  Christ,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  my  God,  ac- 
cording to  the  tenour  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace;  wherein  he  hath 
promised  to  be  a  God  to  the  Faithfull  and  their  seed  after  them  in 
their  Generations,  and  taketh  them  to  be  his  People,  and  therefore 


THE  HALF-WAY  COVENANT  71 

unfeignedly  repenting  of  all  my  sins,  I  do  give  up  myself  wholly 
unto  this  God  to  believe  in  love,  serve  &  Obey  him  sincerely  and 
faithfully  according  to  his  written  word,  against  all  the  temptations 
of  the  Devil,  the  World,  and  my  own  flesh  and  this  unto  the,  death. 
I  do  also  consent  to  be  a  Member  of  this  particular  Church, 
promising  to  continue  steadfastly  in  fellowship  with  it,  in  the 
publick  Worship  of  God,  to  submit  to  the  Order,  Discipline  and 
Government  of  Christ  in  it,  and  to  the  Ministerial  teaching,  guidance 
and  oversight  of  the  Elders  of  it,  and  to  the  brotherly  watch  of 
Fellow  Members:  and  all  this  according  to  God's  Word,  and  by  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  enabling  mc  thereunto.     Amen. 

The  Hartford  Half- Way  Covenant  of  1696. 

We  do  solemnly  in  ye  presence  of  God  and  this  Congregation 
avouch  God  in  Jesus  Christ  to  be  our  God  one  God  in  three  persons 
ye  Father  ye  Son  &  ye  Holy  Ghost  &  yt  we  are  by  nature  childr"  of 
wrath  &  yt  our  hope  of  Mercy  with  God  is  only  thro'  ye  righteous- 
nesse  of  Jesus  Christ  apprehnded  by  faith  &  we  do  freely  give  up 
ourselves  to  ye  Lord  to  walke  in  communion  with  him  in  ye  ordi- 
nances appointed  in  his  holy  word  &  to  yield  obedience  to  all  his 
commands  &  submit  to  his  governmt  &  whereas  to  ye  great  dishon'" 
of  God,  Scandall  of  Religion  &  hazard  of  ye  damnation  of  Souls,  ye 
Sins  of  drunkenness  &  fornication  are  Prevailing  amongst  us  we  do 
Solemnly  engage  before  God  this  day  thro  his  grace  faithfully  and 
conscientiously  to  strive  against  those  Evills  and  ye  temptations 
that  May  lead  thereto. — For  text  see  "Church  records,  G.  L.  Walker, 
Hist.  First  Ch.  in  Hartford,  Hartford,  1884,  p.  248."  Also  given  in 
Prof.  Williston  Walker's  "Creeds  and  platforms,"  p.  121,  note  1. 

Concerning  these  last  two  Half-Way  eovenants  Professor 
Walker  says:  "Like  this  Salem  Direction  the  Hartford  cove- 
nant was  not  formally  adopted  by  the  church,  though  pre- 
pared by  its  pastor  and  used  by  its  services.  For  a  century,  at 
Hartford,  each  pastor  wrote  his  own  form." 

A  most  interesting  description  of  the  manner  in  which 
Half- Way  covenants  were  employed  is  given  in  a  letter  of 
Rev.  Samuel  DauAvorth,  pastor  of  a  church  in  Taunton,  Massa- 
chusetts, of  the  date  1705.    The  letter  reads  in  part: 

It  was  a  most  comfortable  Day  the  first  of  March,  when  we 
renew'd  the  Reformation  Covenant.  .  .  we  added  an  Engagement 
to  reform  Idleness,  unnecessary  frequenting  Houses  of  public  Enter- 
tainment, irreverent  Behaviour  in  Public  Worship,  Neglect  of  Fam- 
ily-Prayer, Promise-breaking,  and  walking  with  Slanderers  and 
Reproachers  of  others;  and  that  we  should  all  in  our  Families  be 
subject  to  good  Orders  and  Government.    It  was  read  to  the  Breth- 


72     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ren  and  Sisters  in  the  Forenoon;  they  standing  up  as  an  outward 
Sign  of  their  inward  Consent,  to  the  rest  of  the  Inhabitants.  In  the 
Afternoon  they  standing  up  also  when  it  was  read;  and  then  every 
one  that  stood  up,  brought  his  Name  ready  writ  in  a  Paper,  and 
put  into  the  Box,  that  it  might  be  put  on  Church  Record.  .  .  We 
gave  Liberty  to  all  Men  and  Women  Kind,  from  sixteen  Years  old 
and  upwards  to  act  with  us;  and  had  three  hundred  Names  given 
in  to  list  under  Christ,  against  the  Sins  of  the  Times.  .  .  We  have 
a  hundred  more  that  will  yet  bind  themselves  in  the  Covenant,  that 
were  then  detained  from  Meeting.     Let  GOD  have  the  Glory. 

Yesterday  fourteen  were  propounded  to  the  Church;   some  for 
full  Communion;  others  for  Baptism,  being  adult  Persons. 

The  full  text  of  the  decisions  of  1657  and  1662  is  given  in 
Prof.  Walker's  ''Creeds  and  Platforms,"  pages  228-339.  We 
need  not  quote  them  here.  But  we  must  record  the  failure  of 
the  Half- Way  Covenant  as  a  permanent  instrument  of  or- 
ganized Congregational  church  life.  In  general  the  Half- Way- 
Covenants  embodied  virtually  everything  that  ought  to  have 
been  required  for  church  membership.  The  vice  of  the  system 
was  in  the  countenance  it  gave  to  a  half-way  relationship  be- 
tween Christ  and  the  world.  Men  and  women  who  ought  to 
have  come  into  church  membership,  and  whom  the  churches 
ought  somehow  to  have  reached,  remained  in  a  sort  of  left- 
handed  relationship  as  members,  not  yet  members,  and  were 
content.  The  evil  did  not  tend  to  its  own  readjustment.  The 
great  awakening,  which  began  with  the  preaching  of  Whitfield 
and  Jonathan  Edwards,  had  as  one  of  its  chief  results  the 
abrogation  of  the  Half- Way  Covenant.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  discuss  at  length  its  merits  and  defects,  but  only  to  record 
in  its  relation  to  the  general  history  of  the  church  covenant 
in  our  Congregational  churches  the  character  and  conclusion 
of  this  unsuccessful  experiment. 

It  has  often  been  assumed  that  Jonathan  Edwards'was 
opposed  to  and  by  his  opposition  destroyed  the  Half-Way 
Covenant.  That  system  was  indeed  destroyed  by  the  great 
awakening  which  grew  out  of  the  preaching  of  Jonathan 
Edwards;  but  Dr.  Dexter  shows  plainly  that  EdAvards  him- 
self administered  the  Half-Way  Covenant,  and  probably  would 


THE  HALF-WAY  COVENANT  73 

have  continued  to  employ  it  without  any  strong  feeling  of 
disapproval,  had  that  been  the  only  difficulty  encountered  by 
him  in  the  church  life  of  his  times.  Dr.  Dexter  refers  to 
Edwards'  covenant  administered  to  all  members  of  his  con- 
gregation above  fourteen  years  of  age.  It  fills  four  closely 
printed  octavo  pages  and  contains  1568  words  (Dexter,  Con- 
gregationalism, p.  487).  The  only  defect  which  a  modern 
Congregationalist  can  possibly  discover  in  this  covenant  is 
that  it  resulted  in  taking  the  covenanter  only  half-way. 


IX.    THE  VALUE  OF  THE  COVENANT 

This  volume  undertakes  to  assemble  all  the  general  con- 
fessions of  faith  of  the  Congregational  Churches  that  have  any 
present  claim  to  authority,  together  with  such  account  of  past 
confessions  as  shall  set  the  present  forth  in  true  historic  per- 
spective; and  also  to  gather  representative  covenants  adopted 
by  or  employed  in  representative  churches  of  our  order  from 
the  beginning  of  modem  Congregational  history.  But  this  is 
not  its  whole  purpose.  It  is  the  author's  hope  that  he  may  be 
able  to  set  forth  somewhat  more  clearly  than  is  sometimes 
understood  the  historic  and  proper  relation  of  creed  and  cove- 
nant within  the  local  church  and  the  denomination.  We  shall 
have  present  occasion  to  discuss  and  record  creeds,  and  need 
not  at  this  point  make  particular  mention  of  them ;  but  this 
book  undertakes  to  show  that  Congregational  churches  are  not 
founded  upon  creeds,  however  useful  creeds  may  be  to  them, 
and  would  be  entirely  complete  without  creeds,  but  that  the 
basis  of  church  organization  among  us  is  the  covenant.  To 
this  end  we  may  well  go  back  to  the  fathers,  and  quote  from  a 
number  of  them,  to  make  this  thesis  clear. 

The  covenant,  was  held  by  all  the  early  Congregational 
writers  to  be  that  which  constitutes  a  church,  and  a  person  a 
member  of  a  Christian  church.  They  held  that  it  ought  to  be 
explicit,  but  might  be  implied.  The  advocates  both  of  a  na- 
tional and  a  catholic  visible  church  accused  the  Congregation- 
alists  of  unwarrantable  strictness  on  this  point.  Thomas 
Goodwin,  in  his  Letters  to  John  Goodwin,  says :  ' '  The  church 
covenant  is  no  more  with  us  than  this, — an  agreement  and 
resolution,  professed  with  promise  to  walk  in  all  those  ways 
pertaining  to  this  fellowship,  so  far  as  they  shall  be  revealed 

74 


THE  VALUE  OF  THE  COVENANT  75 

to  them  in  the  gospel.  Thus  briefly  and  indefinitely  and  im- 
plicitly, and  in  such  like  words  and  no  other,  do  we  apply  our- 
selves to  men 's  consciences,  not  obtruding  upon  them  the  men- 
tion of  any  one  particular  before  or  in  admission,  .  .  .  leaving 
their  spirits  free  to  the  entertainment  of  the  light  that  shines 
or  shall  shine  on  them  and  us  out  of  the  word."  (p.  44). 
Daniel  Buck,  a  member  of  the  church  organized  in  London  in 
1592,  declared,  on  his  ari'aignment  before  three  magistrates, 
that  when  he  came  into  the  congregation  "he  made  this  pro- 
testation, that  he  would  walk  with  the  rest  of  the  congregation, 
so  long  as  they  would  walk  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  so  far 
as  might  be  warranted  by  the  word  of  God. "  (Punchard's  His- 
tory,  277-8.)  Burton,  in  his  Rejoinder  to  Prynne's  Answer 
concerning  the  Twelve  Considerable  Questions,  maintains  that 
it  is  enough  that  there  be  a  covenant  either  expressed  or  im- 
plied. John  Cotton  shows  that  a  covenant  may  be' '  by  silent 
consent,  Gen.  xvii.  2 ;  by  express  words,  Ex.  xix.  8 ;  or  by  writ- 
ing and  sealing,  Neh.  ix.  38."  Cotton  Mather  says,  that,  in 
an  Apology  of  Justin  Martyr,  we  find  Christians,  who  were 
admitted  into  church  fellowship,  agreeing  in  a  resolution  to 
conform  in  all  things  to  the  word  of  God;  which  seems  to  be 
as  truly  a  church  covenant  as  any  in  the  churches  of  New 
England.  In  the  organization  of  the  Salem  Church,  Mr.  Hig- 
ginson  drew  up  a  covenant  and  confession  of  faith ;  and  those 
who  were  afterward  admitted  were  required  "to  enter  into  a 
like  covenant-engagement  as  to  the  substance,  but  the  manner 
was  to  be  so  ordered  by  the  elders  as  to  be  most  conducive  to 
the  end,  respect  being  always  had  by  tliem  to  the  liberty  and 
ahUity  of  the  person." — (Neal's  Puritans,  i.  300.)  Congre- 
gationalism as  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  &c.  quotes  from 
Hooker's  Sui'vey,  part.  i.  46:  "This  covenant  may  be  either 
explicit  or  implicit ;  explicit  where  there  is  a  f oiTnal  covenant, 
implicit  where  they  practise  without  a  verbal  written  formal 
covenant."  This  covenant,  he  maintains,  is  for  life  as  essen- 
tially as  is  the  marriage-covenant.    Prince  quotes  Gov.  Brad- 


76     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ford:  "Upon  which  these  people  shake  off  their  antichristian 
bondage,  and,  as  the  Lord's  free  people,  join  themselves  by 
covenant  in  a  church  state,  to  walk  in  all  his  ways,  made 
known  or  to  be  made  known  to  tJiem.,  according  to  their  best 
endeavors,  whatever  it  cost  them."  Thus  it  seems  that  cove- 
nants were  originally  the  basis  of  Congregational  church 
organizations,  and  that  with  regard  to  the  suhstnyice,  and  not 
the  words  of  them.  Many  of  the  old  writers,  particularly 
Goodwin,  show  that  a  covenant,  expressed  or  implied,  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  establishment  of  any  society  whatever. 
It  was  the  united  opinion  of  the  early  Congregationalists, 
that  any  number  of  persons,  united  together  by  a  covenant 
either  expressed  or  implied,  for  the  worship  of  God,  constitute 
a  church.  John  Robinson  says:  "And  for  the  gathering  of  a 
church  I  do  tell  you,  that  in  what  place  soever,  whether  by 
preaching  the  gospel  by  a  true  minister,  by  a  false  minister, 
by  no  minister,  or  by  reading  and  conference,  or  by  any  other 
means  of  publishing  it,  two  or  three  faithful  people  do  arise, 
separating  themselves  from  the  world  into  the  fellowship  of 
the  gospel,  they  are  a  church  truly  gathered,  though  never  so 
weak."  (Works,  ii,  232.)  In  his  Apology  he  defines  a  church 
to  be  a  company  of  faithful,  holy  people,  with  their  seed,  called 
by  the  word  of  God  into  a  public  covenant  with  Christ,  and 
among  themselves,  for  mutual  fellowship,  in  the  use  of  all  the 
means  of  God's  glory  and  their  salvation.  (Works,  iii,  427.) 
The  Saint's  Apology  says,  this  consent  or  agreement  ought  to 
be  explicit,  for  the  well-being,  but  not  necessarily  for  the 
being,  of  a  true  church ;  for  it  may  be  implied  by  frequent  acts 
of  communion,  &c.  (Hanbuiy,  ii,  73).  Jacob's  Church  Con- 
fession says:  "They  (the  English  congregations)  are  a  true 
political  church,  as  they  are  a  company  of  visible  Christians, 
united,  by  their  own  consent,  to  serve  God,  .  .  .  therefore  we 
commune  with  them  upon  occasion."  (Hanbury.  i.  296.)  Eur- 
ing  says : ' '  Search  the  Scriptures,  and  you  shall  find  that  every 
true  visible  church  of  Christ  must  consist  of  a  company  of  peo- 


THE  VALUE  OF  THE  COVENANT  77 

pie  separated  from  the  froward  generation  of  the  world  by  the 
gospel,  and  joined  or  built  together  into  a  holy  communion 
and  fellowship  among  themselves." — Answer  to  Ten  Counter 
Demands,  Hanbury,  ii.  367. 

In  Burton's  Modest  Answer  to  Prjnme's  Full  Reply  in 
1645,  it  is  shown  that  a  mere  implicit  covenant  is  sufficient  to 
the  being,  though  not  to  the  wxll-being,  of  a  church  (p.  9). 
Thomas  Goodwin  argues,  that  a  church  is  "a  holy  nation,  .  .  . 
a  household  of  faith,  ...  a  holy  temple,"  and  thus  is  an  or- 
ganized body ;  and  that  it  is  an  instituted  body,  assembling  in 
one  place,  built  by  a  special  covenant.  In  his  Catechism  he 
shows  that  the  ancient  converts  joined  themselves  to  the 
church,  and  that  a  covenant  is  implied  in  their  authority  to 
judge  and  discipline  their  members,  as  they  have  no  power 
to  "judge  them  that  are  without."  The  Confession  of  the 
Low  Country  Exiles,  art.  xxxiii.,  says:  "Christians  are  will- 
ingly to  join  together  in  Christian  communion  and  orderly 
covenant ;  and,  by  free  confession  of  the  faith  and  obedience 
of  Christ,  to  unite  themselves  into  peculiar  and  visible  con- 
gregations." John  Davenport  says  in  his  "Power  of  Con- 
gregational churches:"  "The  Church  of  Christ  arises  from  the 
coadunition  or  knitting  together  of  many  saints  into  one  by  a 
holy  covenant,  whereby  they,  as  lively  stones,  are  built  into 
a  spiritual  house  (1  Pet.  ii.  4,  5).  Though  church  covenant 
be  common  to  all  churches  in  its  general  nature,  yet  there  is 
a  special  combination  which  gives  a  peculiar  being  to  one 
Congregational  church  and  its  members,  distinct  from  all 
others." — See  also,  for  corroboration  of  the  same  sentiments, 
Burrough's  Irenicum,  in  Han.  iii.  115;  Bartlett's  Model,  in 
ib.  239 ;  Savoy  Declaration,  in  ib.  545,  546 ;  Camb.  Platform, 
chap.  2,  sect.  6,  and  chap.  4 ;  Wise's  Vindication,  chap.  2 ;  Lord 
King's  Enquiry,  part  i.  3,  7 ;  Hooker's  Survey,  part  i.  46; 
Hutchinson's  Hist.  Mass.  370,  371;  Hall's  Puritans,  294;  S. 
Mather's  Apology,  2;  Increase  Mather's  Dis.  Ecc.  Councils, 
preface;  Owen's  Complete  Works,  xix.  213,  505,  and  xx.  370, 


78  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND   COVENANTS 

371;  Watt's  Works,  iii.  198,  250;  Cotton  Mather's  Rat.  Dis. 
10,  11;  Eaton's  and  Taylor's  Defence,  44;  Letchford's  Plain 
Dealing,  epistle  to  the  reader ;  Dwight,  Senn.  exlix. ;  Emmons, 
V.  444-446 ;  and  Principles  of  Church  Order  by  the  Congre- 
gational Union  of  England  and  Wales,  art.  i.  in  Hanhury, 
iii.  599. 

Mr.  Champlin  Burrage  published  in  1910  an  interesting 
pamphlet  entitled  "New  Facts  Concerning  John  Robinson," 
including  the  results  of  his  research  in  English  univeraity 
libraries  and  in  the  British  Museum.  It  is  interesting  that  in 
this  as  in  his  previously  known  writings  the  pastor  of  the 
Pilgrims  stands  fimily  on  the  covenant  as  the  basis  of  church 
organization.    He  says, — 

"Every  true  Church  of  God  is  joined  with  Him  in  holy 
covenant  by  voluntary  profession  to  have  Him  the  God  there- 
of, and  be  his  people. ' ' 


X.    COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW 

The  preceding  chapters  have  contained  the  text  of  a  num- 
ber of  the  older  covenants.  It  will  be  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive to  assemble  here  some  representative  covenants  from  the 
early  New  England  churches  in  such  order  as  will  show  their 
evolution.  Those  before  the  Unitarian  Controversy  were 
nearly  all  destitute  of  doctrinal  matter;  those  from  1810  to 
1883  generally  included  some  creedal  material,  and  often  in- 
volved in  addition  a  more  or  less  formal  assent  to  the  longer 
creed  of  the  local  church.  The  two  forms  of  admission  pre- 
pared in  1883  and  1895  established  a  new  line  of  demarcation, 
and  the  covenants  of  recent  years  may  be  studied  in  the  exam- 
ples here  gathered,  which  are  fairly  representative. 

THE    PILGRIM   COVENANT 

The  Church  of  the  Pilgrims,  1602. 
The  Plymouth  Church,  gathered  at  Gainsboro  in  1602, 
and  organized  under  covenant  at  Schooby  in  1606,  declared 
that  its  members 

As  ye  Lord's  free  people,  joyned  themselves  (by  a  covenant  of 
the  Lord)  into  a  church  estate,  in  ye  fejlowship  of  ye  gospell,  to 
walk  in  all  his  wayes,  made  known  or  to  be  made  known  unto  them, 
according  to  their  best  endeavors,  whatever  it  should  oost  them,  the 
Lord  assisting  them. 

THE  FIRST  CHURCH  OF  SALEM,   1629 

We  covenant  with  the  Lord  and  with  one  another,  and  do  bind 
ourselves  in  the  presence  of  God  to  walk  together  in  all  his  ways, 
according  as  He  is  pleased  to  reveal  Himself  unto  us  in  his  blessed 
Word  of  Truth. 

79 


80     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Covenants  tended  to  lengthen,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Salem 
church,  to  which  came  in  1636  Rev.  Hugh  Peter  as  minister. 
He  had  been  accustomed  to  a  much  longer  covenant  in  Rotter- 
dam, and  he  rewrote  the  Salem  covenant,  but  it  will  be  noted 
that  its  added  length  included  matter  relating  not  to  doctrine 
but  to  life. 

THE  RENEWED  SALEM  COVENANT  OF  1636 

Gather  my  Saints  together  unto  me  that  have  madt.  a  Covenant 
with  me  by  sacrifyce.     Ps.  50:  5. 

Wee  whose  names  are  here  under  written,  members  of  the 
present  Church  of  Christ  in  Salem,  having  found  by  sad  experience 
how  dangerous  it  is  to  sitt  loose  to  the  Covenant  wee  make  with 
our  God:  and  how  apt  wee  are  to  wander  into  by  pathes,  even  to 
the  looseing  of  our  first  aimes  in  entring  into  Church  fellowship: 
Doe  therefore  solemnly  in  the  presence  of  the  Eternall  God,  both  for 
our  own  comforts,  and  those  which  shall  or  maye  be  joyned  unto 
us,  renewe  that  Church  Covenant  we  find  this  Church  bound  unto 
at  theire  first  beginning,  viz:  That  We  Covenant  with  the  Lord  and 
one  with  an  other;  and  doe  bynd  our  selves  in  the  presence  of  God, 
to  walke  together  in  all  his  waies,  according  as  he  is  pleased  to 
reveale  himself  unto  us  in  his  Blessed  word  of  truth.  And  doe  more 
explicitely  in  the  name  and  feare  of  God,  profess  and  protest  to 
walke  as  followeth  through  the  power  and  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

1  first  wee  avowe  the  Lord  to  be  our  God,  and  our  selves  his 
people  in  the  truth  and  simplicitie  of  our  spirits. 

2  We  give  our  selves  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  word  of 
his  grace,  fore  the  teaching,  ruleing  and  sanctifyeing  of  us  in  mat- 
ters of  worship,  and  Conversation,  resolveing  to  cleave  to  him  alone 
for  life  and  glorie;  and  oppose  all  contrarie  wayes,  canons  and  con- 
stitutions of  men  in  his  worship. 

3  Wee  promise  to  walke  with  our  brethren  and  sisters  in  this 
Congregation  with  all  watchfullnes  and  tendernes,  avoyding  all 
jelousies,  suspitions,  backbyteings,  censurings,  provoakings,  secrete 
risings  of  spirite  against  them;  but  in  all  offences  to  follow  the 
rule  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  to  beare  and  forbeare,  give  and  forgive 
as  he  hath  taught  us. 

4  In  publick  or  in  private,  we  will  willingly  doe  nothing  to  the 
ofence  of  the  Church  but  will  be  willing  to  take  advise  for  our 
selves  and  ours  as  occasion  shalbe  presented. 

5  Wee  will  not  in  the  Congregation  be  forward  eyther  to  shew 
oure  owne  gifts  or  parts  in  speaking  or  scrupling,  or  there  discover 
the  fayling  of  oure  brethren  or  sisters  butt  atend  an  orderly  cale 
there  unto;  knowing  how  much  the  Lord  may  be  dishonoured,  and 
his  Gospell  in  the  profession  of  it,  sleighted,  by  our  distempers,  and 
weaknesses  in  publyck. 

6  Wee  bynd  our  selves  to  studdy  the  advancement  of  the  Gos- 
pell in  all  truth  and  peace,  both  in  regard  of  those  that  are  within, 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  81 

or  without,  noe  way  sleighting  our  sister  Churches,  but  useing 
theire  Counsell  as  need  shalbe:  nor  laying  a  stumbling  block  before 
any,  noe  not  the  Indians,  whose  good  we  desire  to  promote,  and 
soe  to  converse,  as  we  may  avoyd  the  verrye  appearance  of  evill. 

7  We  hearbye  promise  to  carrye  our  selves  in  all  lawful!  obed- 
ience, to  those  that  are  over  us,  in  Church  or  Commonweale,  know- 
ing how  well  pleasing  it  will  be  to  the  Lord,  that  they  should  have 
incouragement  in  theire  places,  by  our  not  greiveing  theyre  spirites 
through  our  Irregularities. 

8  Wee  resolve  to  approve  our  selves  to  the  Lord  in  our  pertic- 
ular  calings,  shunning  ydleness  as  the  bane  of  any  state,  nor  will 
wee  deale  hardly,  or  oppressingly  with  any,  wherein  we  are  the 
Lord's  stewards: 

9  alsoe  promyseing  to  our  best  abiltie  to  teach  our  children  and 
servants,  the  knowledg  of  God  and  his  will,  that  they  may  serve 
him  also;  and  all  this,  not  by  any  strength  of  our  owne,  but  by  the 
Lord  Christ,  whose  bloud  we  desire  may  sprinckle  this  our  Covenant 
made  in  his  name. — The  Covenant  Idea,  pp.  89-91. 

The  First  Church  of  Boston  had  a  covenant  somewhat 
longer,  chiefly  in  its  recital  of  certain  events  connected  with 
their  migration  across  the  ocean : 

THE   CHARLESTOVV^N-BOSTON   COVENANT,   JULY   30,    1G30 

In  the  Name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  &  in  Obedience  to  His 
holy  will  &  Divine  Ordinaunce. 

Wee  whose  names  are  herevnder  written,  being  by  His  most 
wise,  &  good  Providence  brought  together  into  this  part  of  America 
in  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts,  &  desirous  to  vnite  our  selves  into 
one  Congregation  ,or  Church,  vnder  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  our  Head, 
in  such  sort  as  becometh  all  those  whom  He  hath  Redeemed,  & 
Sanctifyed  to  Himselfe,  do  hereby  solemnly,  and  religiously  (as  in 
His  most  holy  Proesence)  Promisse,  &  bind  oui"selves.  to  walke  in 
all  our  wayes  according  to  the  Rule  of  the  Gospell,  &  in  all  sincere 
Conformity  to  his  holy  Ordinaunces,  &  in  mutuall  love,  &  respect 
each  to  other,  so  neere  as  God  shall  give  vs  grace. — Text  from  A.  B. 
Ellis's  "History  of  the  First  Church  in  Boston,"  p.  3. 

The  ^Yaterto^\^l  covenant  ^^'as  longer  yet,  but  not  by  the 
inclusion  of  doctrinal  matter. 

THE  CENTER  CHURCH  OF  HARTFORD.  1632 

This  covenant  is  presumably  the  one  adopted  by  this  Church  on 
its  organization  in  Newtown  (now  Cambridge,)  Mass.,  in  1632. 

Since  it  hath  pleased  God,  in  His  infinite  mercy,  to  manifest 
Himself  willing  to  take  unworthy  sinners  near  unto  Himself,  even 


82     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

into  covenant  relation  to  and  interest  in  Him,  to  become  a  God  to 
them  and  avouch  them  to  be  his  people,  and  accordingly  to  com- 
mand and  encourage  them  to  give  up  themselves  and  theii''  children 
also  unto  Him. 

We  do  therefore  this  day,  in  the  presence  of  God,  His  holy 
angels,  and  this  assembly,  avouch  the  Lord  Jehovah,  the  true,  and 
living  God,  even  God  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  be 
our  God  and  give  up  ourselves  and  ours  also  unto  Him,  to  be  his 
subjects  and  servants,  promising  through  grace  and  strength  in 
Christ  (without  whom  we  can  do  nothing,)  to  walk  in  professed 
subjection  to  Him  as  our  only  Lord  and  Lawgiver,  yielding  universal 
obedience  to  his  blessed  will,  according  to  what  discoveries  He 
hath  made  or  hereafter  shall  make,  of  the  same  to  us;  in  special, 
that  we  will  seek  Him  in  all  His  holy  ordinances  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  Gospel,  submitting  to  His  government  in  this  particular 
Church,  and  walking  together  therein,  with  all  brotherly  love,  and 
mutual  watchfulness,  to  the  building  up  of  one  another  in  faith  and 
love  unto  His  praise:  all  which  we  promise  to  perform,  the  Lord 
helping  us  through  His  grace  in  Jesus  Christ. 

THE  SECOND  CHURCH  OF  BOSTON,   1650 

We,  whose  names  are  here  subsci-Ibed,  being  called  of  God  to 
enter  into  church-fellowship  together,  knowing  and  considering  our 
great  unworthiness  and  unfitness  for  so  near  approaches  to  so  holy 
a  God,  and  how  apt  we  are  to  start  aside  from  him  and  from  the 
rules  of  his  gospel  and  government  over  us,  we  therefore  lament  as 
in  His  sight,  the  inconstancy  of  our  own  spirits  with  Him,  and  our 
former  neglects  of  Him  and  pollutions  of  His  house  and  holy  things, 
by  our  personal  corruptions  and  unholy  walkings,  and  do  beseech 
Him,  for  His  name's  sake,  to  prevent  us  with  mercy  and  accept  us 
under  the  wings  of  His  own  everlasting  covenant;  and  in  depend- 
ence upon  His  free  grace  therein,  in  His  name  and  strength,  we 
here  freely  this  day,  in  the  presence  of  the  ever-living  God,  do 
avouch  the  Lord  our  God  to  be  our  God,  and  ourselves  to  be  His 
people,  and  to  yield  ourselves  to  Him  by  an  holy  covenant  of  faith 
and  love  and  covenant,  to  cleave  to  Him  and  to  one  another  in  Him; 
to  cleave  to  God  in  Christ  as  our  sovereign  Good,  and  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  Mediator  and  surety  of  the  covenant,  as 
our  only  High  Priest  and  atonement  to  satisfy  for  us  and  to  save 
us,  and  as  our  only  prophet  to  guide  and  to  teach  us,  and  as  our 
only  king  and  law-giver'  to  reign  over  us;  as  also  to  attend  upon 
Him  and  the  service  of  His  holy  will,  by  walking  together  as  a  con- 
gregation and  church  of  Christ,  in  all  the  ways  of  His  worship,  and 
of  mutual  love,  and  of  special  watchfulness  one  over  another,  ac- 
cording to  His  will,  which  is  to  be  revealed  to  us  by  His  word; 
subjecting  ourselves  to  the  Lord  in  all  his  holy  administrations  in 
His  church,  beseeching  Him  to  own  us  for  His  people,  and  to  de- 
light to  dwell  among  us  as  His  people,  that  His  kingdom  and  grace 
may  be  advanced  by  us. 

Which  sacred  covenant  that  we  may  observe  and  all  the  branch- 
es of  it  inviolable  forever,  we  desire  to  deny  ourselves  and  to  defend 


COVENANTS  OLD 'AND   NEW  83 

alone  upon  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  and  upon  the  merits  and  mercies 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  assistance  and  for  acceptance,  for 
healing  and  forgiving  mercy  for  His  own  sake. 

THE  OLD  SOUTH  COVENANT,   16C9 

The  third  Congregational  Church  to  be  organized  in  Bos- 
ton was  the  Old  South.  It  was  ' '  gathered  at  CharlestoAvn  on 
the  12th  day  of  third  montho,  1669."  The  basis  of  union  as 
is  elaborately  set  forth  by  its  historian,  Hamilton  A.  Hill, 
"was  not  a  formal  express  of  doctrinal  belief,  but  of  a  glowing 
obligation  of  covenant  obligation.  "—History  of  Old  South, 
i,  126,  It  is  somewhat  longer  than  the  earlier  covenants,  but 
its  added  length  is  not  made  up  of  doctrinal  material ;  it  en- 
larges upon  the  solemnity  of  this  "everlasting  covenant"  and 
especially  upon  its  inclusion  of  their  posterity  and  the  relation 
of  sisterly  fellowship  and  communion  with  other  churches. 
Exclusive  of  these  interesting  and  valuable  additions,  the  cov- 
enant itself,  constituting  the  church  and  defining  the  relation 
existing  between  its  members,  one  with  another  and  with  their 
Lord,  is  as  follows : 

We,  whose  names  are  underwritten,  being  called  of  God  to  join 
together  into  a  Church  in  heart-sense  of  our  unworthiness  thereof, 
disability  thereunto,  and  aptness  to  forsake  the  Lord,  cast  off  His 
government  and  neglect  our  duty  one  to  another;  Do  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  trusting  only  in  His  grace  and  help,  sol- 
emnly bind  ourseJves  together  as  in  the  presence  of  God, 

Constantly  to  walk  together  as  a  Church  of  Christ,  according 
to  all  those  holy  rules  of  God's  word,  given  to  a  church  body  rightly 
established,  so  far  as  we  already  know  them,  or  they  shall  be  here- 
after farther  made  known  to  us. 

In  1680,  Mr.  Willard,  who  at  that  time  was  pastor,  en- 
larged upon  the  covenant,  adding  to  it  matter  suggested  by 
the  Reforming  Sjaiod,  but  introducing  no  doctrinal  material. 
The  two  forms  of  this  covenant  are  given  in  full  in  Hill's 
History  of  the  Old  South,  Vol.  1,  pp.  127,  240-241. 

In  1769,  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  follo^ving  the  frequent  custom 
of  a  new  pastor  to  prepare  his  o^vn  covenant,  introduced  into 


84     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

the  Old  South,  a  form  of  admission  of  members,  which  included 
into  it  a  brief  statement  of  doctrine.  Of  this  Mr.  Hill  says  in 
his  history, 

"This  form  seems  to  us  veiy  inferior  in  power  and  fer- 
vency of  expression  to  the  covenant,  which  had  been  in  use 
in  the  church  for  100  years.  It  embodies  the  nearest  approach 
to  a  doctrinal  statement,  as  a  prerequisite  to  admission  to 
membership  which  was  ever  adopted  at  the  Old  South.  The 
statement  is  very  guarded  and  qualified  in  its  terms,  but  it 
was  all  that  the  brethren  were  willing  to  consent  to,  as  a  con- 
cession to  Mr.  Blair,  and  it  continued  in  force  just  8  months." 
—Vol.  2,  page  96. 

So  far  as  we  are  aware,  this  is  the  only  important  attempt 
that  was  made  to  introduce  doctrinal  terms  into  a  Congrega- 
tional covenant  until  the  time  of  the  Unitarian  controversy. 

DR.   DEXTER'S   COVENANT 

The  covenant  recommended  by  Dr.  H.  M.  Dexter  was 
based  on  that  of  the  Old  South  Church,  whose  general  scope 
he  followed,  and  some  of  whose  clauses  he  included : 

We,  who  are  called  of  God  to  join  ourselves  into  a  Church  state, 
in  deep  sense  of  our  unworthiness  thereof,  disability  thereto,  and 
aptness  to  forsake  the  Lord,  and  neglect  our  duty  to  him  and  to 
each  other,  do  hereby- — in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and 
trusting  in  his  gracious  help — solemnly  covenant  and  agree,  with 
Him  and  with  each  other,  to  walk  together  as  a  Church  of  Christ, 
according  to  all  those  holy  rules  of  God's  Word  given  to  a  Church 
rightly  established,  so  far  as  we  know  them,  or  may  gain  further 
light  upon  them.    And,  particularly,  we  covenant  and  agree:  — 

To  consecrate  ourselves,  our  offspring,  our  worldly  goods,  and 
all  that  we  have,  and  are,  unto  the  Triune  God,  as  the  supreme 
object  of  our  love  and  our  chosen  portion,  for  this  world,  and  for 
that  which  is  to  come; 

To  give  diligent  heed  to  His  word  and  ordinances; 

To  maintain  His  worship  in  the  family; 

To  seek  in  all  things  His  glory,  and  the  good  of  men,  and  to 
endeavor  to  live  a  holy  and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  hon- 
esty; 

To  contribute  from  our  substance,  and  by  our  active  labors  and 
continual  prayers,  to  the  work  of  this  Church; 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  85 

To  submit  to  its  Gospel  discipline; 

To  labor  for  its  growth,  and  peace,  and  purity; 

To  walk  with  each  other  in  Christian  fidelity  and  tenderness ; 

And,  finally,  to  hold  and  promote  suitable  fellowship  with  all 
sister  churches  of  the  common  Head,  especially  with  those  among 
whom  the  Lord  hath  set  us,  that  the  Lord  may  be  one,  and  his  name 
one,  in  all  his  churches  throughout  all  generations,  to  his  eternal 
glory  in  Christ  Jesus. 

And  now  the  good  Lord  be  merciful  unto  us,  pardoning,  accord- 
ing to  the  riches  of  his  grace,  as  all  our  past  sins,  so  especially  our 
Church  sins,  in  negligence  and  unfaithfulness  of  former  vows,  and 
accept,  as  a  sweet  savor  in  Christ  Jesus,  this  our  offering  up  of 
ourselves  unto  him  in  this  work;  filling  this  place  with  his  glory, 
making  us  faithful  to  him.self  and  to  each  other  so  long  as  this 
transitory  life  shall  last,  and,  after  that  he  has  kept  us  from  falling, 
presenting  us  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with  exceed- 
ing joy.    Amen! — Congregationalism,  pp.  163,  4. 

Covenants  in  present  use  in  our  Congregational  churchea 
show  no  very  sticking  divergences.  A  large  number  of  church- 
es use  the  form  of  admission  which  accompanied  the  Creed  of 
1883,  and  a  still  larger  number  the  re\dsed  form  of  1895 
which  was  printed  in  "The  Council  Manual."  Among  the 
churches  employing  this  covenant  in  one  of  its  two  forms,  or 
in  some  unimportant  modification  if  it,  are  Shawmut  Church, 
Boston,  Calvinistic  Church,  Fitchburg,  Mass.;  First  Church, 
Newton  Center,  Mass.;  Central  Church,  Galesburg,  Illinois; 
First  Church,  Muskegon,  Michigan;  First  Church,  Ottumwa, 
Iowa;  First  Church,  Marietta,  Ohio;  First  Church,  Long 
Beach,  California.  These  are  representative  churches  in  a 
much  larger  group. 

Of  the  pastors  who  employ  this  covenant,  and  who  have 
expressed  their  opinion  in  a  recent  symposium,  none  find  any 
serious  fault  with  this  covenant^  or  express  any  great  en- 
thusiasm concerning  it.  It  is  a  servicable  covenant,  but  it 
was  hastily  prepared  and  perfunctorily  revised,  and  it  has 
never  elicited  any  very  warm  praise  or  strong  criticism.  The 
two  forms  are  here  given,  and  also  a  number  of  other  forms 
of  covenant  in  present  use  in  representative  churches  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country. 


86     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

(the  form  of  admission  of  1883.) 
The  following  is  the  "Confession  of  Faith"  which  the 
Commission  of  1883  prepared  to  accompany  the  Creed  which 
they  had  prepared: 

CONFESSION  OF  FAITH 

What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  toward 
me.?  I  will  take  the  cup  of  salvation,  and  call  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  I  will  pay  my  vows  unto  the  Lord  now  in  the  presence 
of  all  his  people. 

"Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  also  before  my  Father,  which  is  In  heaven.  But  whosoever 
shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father, 
which   is   in   heaven. 

For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness;  and  with 
the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation. 

Dearly  beloved,  called  of  God  to  be  his  children  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  you  are  here  that,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  his 
people,  you  may  enter  into  the  fellowship  and  communion  of  his 
Church.  You  do  truly  repent  of  your  sins;  you  heartily  receive 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  crucified  Saviour  and  risen  Lord;  you  conse- 
crate yourselves  unto  God  and  your  life  to  his  service;  you  accept 
his  Word  as  your  law,  and  his  Spirit  as  your  comforter  and  guide; 
and  trusting  in  his  grace  to  confirm  and  strengthen  you  in  all  good- 
ness, you  promise  to  do  God's  holy  will,  and  to  walk  with  this  church 
in  the  truth  and  peace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Accepting,  according  to  the  measure  of  your  understanding  of 
it,  the  system  of  Christian  truth  held  by  the  churches  of  our  faith 
and  order,  and  by  this  church  into  whose  fellowship  you  now  enter, 
you  join  with  ancient  saints,  with  the  Church  throughout  the  world, 
and  with  us,  your  fejlow-believers,  in  humbly  and  heartily  confess- 
ing your  faith   in  the   gospel,   saying:  — 

I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth.  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son  our  Lord;  who  was  con- 
ceived by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried:  the  third  day  He 
rose  from  the  dead;  He  ascended  into  heaven;  and  sitteth  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty;  from  thence  He  shall  come 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  the 
holy  catholic  church;  the  communion  of  saints;  the  forgiveness  of 
sins;  the  resurrection  of  the  body;  and  the  life  everlasting.    Ameji. 

[Then  should  baptism  be  administered  to  those  who  have  not 
been  baptized.  Theji  should  those  rise  who  would  unite  with  the 
church  by  letter.     To  them  the  minister  should  say:] 

Confessing  the  Lord  whom  we  unitedly  wor.ship,  you  do  now 
renew  your  self-consecration,  and  join  with  us  cordially  in  this,  our 
Christian  faith  and  covenant. 

[The  members  of  the  church  present  should  rise.] 

We  welcome  you  into  our  fellowship.  We  promise  to  watch 
over  you  with  Christian  love.     God  grant  that,  loving  and  being 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW     •  87 

loved,  serving  and  being  served,  blessing  and  being  blessed,  we 
may  be  prepared,  while  we  dwell  together  on  earth,  for  the,  per- 
fect communion  of  the  saints  in  heaven. 

"Now  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead  our 
Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the  blood  of 
the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good  work  to 
do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  well-pleasing  in  his  sight, 
through  Jesus  Christ:     to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen." 

[An  alternative  benediction,  Jude  24,  25.] 

(the  form  of  admission  of  1895.) 
Following  is   the  revised  form  of   the  "Confession  of 
Faith"  of  1883  which  was  prepared  in  1895  and  printed,  by 
direction  of  the  National  Council,  in  ' '  The  Council  Manual : ' ' 

FORM  FOR  THE  RECEPTION  OF  MEMBERS 
From  the  Council  Manual  (approved  bj'-the  National  Council  of  1895.) 

The  persons  to  be  received  on  confession  of  their  faith  coming, 
as  their  names  are  called,  before  the  congregation,  the  minister 
may  repeat  the  following  or  other  Scripture  passages: 

"What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  His  benefits  toward 
me?  I  will  take  the  cup  of  salvation,  and  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  I  will  pay  my  vows  unto  the  Lord  now  in  the  presence  of 
all   His    people." 

"Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  But  whosoever 
shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven." 

"For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness;  and 
with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation." 

The  minister  shall  then  say: 
Dearly  beloved,  called  of  God  to  be  His  children,  through  Jesua 
Christ,  we  give  hearty  thanks  to  Him,  who  by  His  Spirit,  has  opened 
your  eyes  to  see  and  your  hearts  to  receive  Jesus  as  your  Saviour 
and  Lord,  and  who  has  inclined  to  present  yourselves  at  this  time 
to  make  confession  of  Him. 

With  the  saints  of  old,  with  the  Church  throughout  the  world, 
find  with  us,  your  fellow-believers,  you  join  humbly  and  heartily 
confessing  your  faith  in  the  Gospel,  saying: 

(The  members  of  the  Church,  together  with  those  to  be  re- 
ceived, here  rise  and  repeat  the  Apostles'  Creed.) 

I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  he^^ven  and 
earth.  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Lord;  who  was  con- 
ceived by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried;  the  third  day  He 
rose  from  the  dead;  He  ascended  into  heaven;  and  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty;  from  thence  He  shall 
come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost; 
the  holy  catholic  Church,  the  communion  of  saints;  the  forgiveness 
of  sins;  the  resurrection  of  the  body;  and  the  life  everlasting. 
Amen. 


88     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

(The  members  of  the  Church  will  again  be  seated.) 

Thus  confessing  with  us  and  with  the  Church  universal  your 
Christian  faith,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  His  people,  you  pub- 
lically  enter  into  His  covenant  of  grace. 

Having  truly  repented  of  your  sins  and  heartily  forsaken  them, 
you  devote  yourselves  to  the  love,  obedience,  and  service  of  Jesus 
Christ;  you  take  His  Word  as  the  law  of  your  life  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  your  Comforter  and  Guide;  and  trusting  in  His  grace  to 
confirm  and  strengthen  you,  you  promise  to  follow  Him  in  all  things, 
to  walk  with  His  disciples  in  love,  and  to  live  for  His  glory.  Do  you 
so  promise? 

Response,  I  do. 

Those  who  have  been  previously  baptized  are  addressed  as 
follows: 

Do  you  who  are  children  of  the  covenant  now  accept  for  your- 
selves the  seal  of  baptism  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  which  faith  and  love  brought  you  in 
childhood? 

Response,   I   do. 

The  God  of  all  grace,  who  hath  called  you  unto  his  eternal 
glory  by  Jesus  Christ,  confirm  you  unto  the  end  that  ye  may  be 
blameless  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.    Amen. 

Those  who  have  not  been  previously  baptized  are  thus  ad- 
dressed: 

Acknowledging  the  divine  authority  of  Christian  baptism,  you 
now  receive  it  as  a  sign  of  the  washing  of  regeneration,  which  you 
trust  has  been  wrought  in  you  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  as  a  seal 
of  God's  covenanted  grace. 

Baptism  should  here  be,  administered  as  follows: 

I  baptize  thee  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.     Amen. 

The  Minister  shall  then  say: 

And  now  to  you  who  are  faithful  to  these  solemn  promises  and 
engagements  towards  God,  He  is  pleased  to  declare  by  His  Word  His 
promises  and  engagements  towards  you,  assuring  to  you  the  free 
and  full  forgiveness  of  your  sins;  and  pledging  all  suflacient  aid, 
upon  which  you  may  joyfully  rely,  in  the  great  work  which  you 
have  undertaken.  He  promises  that  he  will  be  your  God,  your 
Father,  your  Redeemer,  your  Sanctifier,  Teacher,  and  Guide,  He 
covenants  with  you,  that  in  the  day  of  trial  and  temptation  he  will 
cheer  and  strengthen  you;  that  he  will  cause  all  things  to  work 
together  for  your  good;  that  nothing  shall  separate  you  from  his 
love;  and  that  at  death  your  ascended  Lord  will  receive  you  to 
himself,  that  where  He  is  there  you  may  be  also. 

Those  to  be  received  by  letter  or  certificate  from  other  churches 
now  either  come  forward  or  rise  as  their  names  are  called.  The 
Minister  shall  greet  these,  saying: 

Kindred  in  Christ,  who  come  acknowledging  the  vows  you  made 
when  first  you  declared  your  faith  in  Christ,  we  bid  you  welcome. 
We  greet  you  as  fellow-laborers  in  His  service,  and  fellow-travelers 
to  His  promised  rest. 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  89 

Addressing  all  those  entering  into  the  membership  of  this 
Church  the  Minister  shall  say: 

Beloved  in  the  Lord,  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  you  have  confessed  the  faith  of 
Christ  before  witnesses  and  have,  given  yourself  to  God  in  His  ever- 
lasting covenant  of  grace.  And  now  accepting,  according  to  the 
measure  of  your  understanding  of  it,  the  system  of  Christian  truth 
held  by  the  churches  of  our  faith  and  order,  and  by  this  church  into 
whosei  fellowship  you  now  enter,  you  cordially  unite  yourself  with 
the  church  of  Christ,  adopting  as  your  own  the  covenant  by  which 
it  exists;  you  promise  to  pray  and  labor  for  its  edification  and  fruit- 
fulness:  to  help  in  sustaining  its  worship,  its  activities,  and  its 
charities;  and  to  live  with  us  in  Christian  fellowship.  Do  you  so 
promise. 

Response,  I  do. 

The  members  of  the  Church  here  rise,  and  the  Minister  shall 
say: 

We,  then,  the  members  of  this  Church,  do  affectionately  welcome 
you  into  this  household  of  faith.  We  pledge  to  you  our  sympathy, 
our  help,  and  our  prayers  that  you  may  evermore  increase  in  the 
knowledge  and  love  of  God.  We  trust  that  by  His  grace  we  may 
all  walk  worthy  of  the  calling  wherewith  we  are  called,  with  all 
lowliness  and  meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another 
in  love;  giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace.  God  grant  that,  loving  and  being  loved,  serving  and  being 
served,  blessing  and  being  blessed,  we  may  be  prepared  while  we 
dwell  together  on  earth  for  the  perfect  fellowship  of  the  saints 
above. 

Here  the  minister  may  give  to  each  the  hand  of  fellowship,  with 
some  appropriate  passage  of  Scripture;  after  which  may  be  pro- 
nounced the  following  benediction: 

"Now  unto  Him  that  is  able,  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to 
present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  His  glory  with  exceed- 
ing joy,  to  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty, 
dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  ever.    Amen." 

The  two  forms  of  admission  prepared  to  accompany  the 
Creed  of  1883,  while  embodying  excellent  features,  are  not 
above  ci'iticism  in  several  particulars.  Both  are  virtually 
covenants,  but  neither  one  consistently  develops  the  covenant 
idea.  The  earlier  one,  hastily  prepared  as  an  after-thought 
by  the  Commission  whose  chief  duty  had  been  the  fonnulation 
of  the  Creed,  was  called  a  Confession  of  Faith.  The  other, 
prepared  in  1895,  was  taken  over  by  the  Committee  on  the 
Manual  and  appeare  to  have  been  an  incident  in  the  work  of 
that  Committee  which  had  taken  over  the  partially  formulated 
result  of  another  Committee  appointed  especially  to  prepare 


90     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

a  Form  of  Admission,  while  therefore  the  Council  Manual  of 
1895  included  the  familiar  foiTa  of  admission,  which  certainly 
is  a  covenant,  the  second  article  of  the  Constitution  which 
that  Manual  contains,  includes  a  covenant,  as  follows : 

The  covenant  by  which  this  Church  exists  as  a  distinct  body, 
and  which  every  member  accepts,  is  as  follows: 

Acknowledging  Jesus  Christ  to  be  our  Saviour  and  Lord,  and 
accepting  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  our  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
and  reicognizing  the  privilege  and  duty  of  uniting  ourselves  for 
Christian  fellowship,  the  enjoyment  of  Christian  ordinances,  the 
public  worship  of  God,  and  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom  in  the 
world,  we  do  now,  in  the  sight  of  God  and  invoking  his  blessing, 
solemnly  covenant  with  and  agree  with  each  other  to  associate 
ourselves  to  be  a  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  warranted 
by  the  Word  of  God. 

We  agree  to  maintain  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  to  submit 
oursejves  to  the  orderly  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  Church, 
and  to  walk  together  in  brotherly  love. 

And  this  we  do  depending  upon  the  aid  of  our  heavenly  Father, 
who  so  loved  the  World  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  for  our 
salvation,  and  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  redeemed  us  with  his 
blood,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  our  Comforter  and  Guide. — Barton's 
Congregational  Manual,  p.  231.) 

This  article  states  that  every  member  of  the  church  ac- 
cepts the  covenant,  but  there  is  no  place  in  the  form  of  ad- 
mission of  members  where  this  covenant  appears  and  the  cove- 
nant to  which  members  do  assent  is  quite  a  different  thing. 
This  is  certainly  an  infelicity.  No  church  needs  two  cove- 
nants, one  as  a  part  of  its  Constitution,  to  which  every  mem- 
ber assents  w^ithout  knowing  that  he  does  so,  and  another  as  a 
its  form  of  admission  of  members  but  which  has  no  place  in 
its  Constitution. 

There  should  be  another  form  of  admission,  not  only 
better  than  either  of  these,  but  one  whose  covenant  is  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  organic  law  of  the  church, 

CENTRAL  CHURCH,   BOSTON. 

Central  church  has  no  Creed  and  has  recently  omitted  the 
Apostles'  Creed  which  formerly  was  a  part  of  its  Service  of  Ad- 
mission. 

The  Covenant 

Before  these,  the  members  of  this  church,  who  do  now  renew 
their  assent  to  this  covenant,  encompassed  by  that  great  cloud  of 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  91 

witnesses  who  have  fought  the  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith,  and 
with  God's  help  and  comfort,  you  do  now  covenant  and  promise 
to  give  yourself  to  Him,  to  seek  His  way  for  your  way,  to  make 
His  will  your  own,  to  bear  gladly  and  loyally  all  that  is  given  you 
1o  bear.  You  do  promise  to  take  Jesus  Christ  as  your  Master,  and  to 
make  it  your  honest  effort  to  do  each  day  as  you  think  He  would 
have  you  do.  You  do  promise  that  you  will  study  His  words,  and  that 
you  will  earnestly  strive  so  to  walk  in  His  Spirit  that  your  life  may 
not  be  controlled  by  the  desires  and  passions  of  the  flesh,  but  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  love  and  truth. 

You  do  also  promise,  that  so  long  as  you  continue  in  association 
with  this  church  you  will  be  loyal  to  its  fellowship;  that  you  will 
help  those  of  your  fellow-members  who  are  weak;  that,  according 
to  your  strength  and  opportunity,  you  will  support  its  work  and  its 
services;  and  finally,  that  you  will  strive  with  all  your  heart  to  save 
others  from  the  power  of  evil  in  the  world  and  in  themselves,  and 
to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Trusting  in  the  premise  of  Christ  that  no  one  shall  pluck  you 
out  of  His  hand,  and  in  the  power  of  His  Holy  Spirit  to  teach  you 
and  to  hejp  you,  you  thus  promise.    Do  you? 

Reception  of  Members 

The  Announcement 

For  those  joining  by  confession  of  faith. 
Dearly  beloved:  You  have  been  baptized  at  the  will  of  your 
parents  into  the  life  which  is  in  Christ.  You  do  now  of  your  own 
will  and  choice  come  before  this  company  of  His  followers  to  con- 
fess His  name  and  to  take  upon  your  own  lips  the  promise  of  fidelity 
to  Him. 

For  those  joining  by  letter. 

Dearly  beloved:  You  have  been  already  received  into  the  fel- 
lowship in  the  greater  Church  of  Christ.  May  God  so  bless  your 
association  with  this  church  that  it  may  bring  to  you  a  new  and 
fresh  revelation  of  His  love  and  truth,  and  that  you,  living  and 
working  among  us,  may  enlarge  the  usefulness  of  this  church  and 
increase  its  power  according  to  the  measure  of  the  gift  which  God 
hath  given  and  shall  give  unto  you.  As  a  token  of  your  reception 
into  the  full  privilege  of  the  membership  of  this  church,  I  ask  you 
to  stand  with  the  members  of  this  church  as  they  silently  renew 
their  pledge  of  fidelity  to  our  Lord  and  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 

Members  of  the  church  rise. 

THE  SECOND  CHURCH  IN  NEWTON 

(West  Newton,  Massachusetts.) 

This  church  has  no  Creed.     Following  is  its  Service  of  Admission. 

Address  of  Welcome 

Dearly  Beloved,  we  give  hearty  thanks  to  our  Father  in  Heaven, 
who  has  led  you  to  choose.  Jesus  as  your  Leader  and  Master,  and 
who   has   inclined   you   at  this  time  to  acknowledge  Him,   and   to 


92     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

enter   upon   the   privileges   and   responsibilities   of   membership  in 
His  church. 

Confession 

With  us,  and  with  the  church  throughout  the  world,  you  confess 
your  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  declare  your  purpose  to 
live  hereafter  as  His  loving  and  obedient  servant;  *"to  walk  in  all 
of  His  ways  now  known,  or  hereafter  to  be  made  known,  to  you, 
according  to  your  best  endeavor,  the  Lord  assisting  you;"  and  to 
seek  to  build  up  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness  in  your- 
self and  in  others. 

I  do. 

(Here  baptism  will  be  administered,  after  which  those  uniting 
by   letter   will   rise.) 

Covenant 

In  accordance  with  your  purpose  to  live  a  Christian  life,  you 
now  heartily  unite  with  this  church,  to  share  with  us  its  work  and 
worship;  covenanting  with  God  and  with  us  to  be  loyal  to  it  in  all 
things,  to  attend  (so  far  as  possible)  its  appointed  services,  to 
guard  its  good  name,  to  promote  its  usefulness  and  prospeaity  as 
God's  instrument  for  the  good  of  men,  and  to  walk  with  us  in  love 
and  faithfulness  so  long  as  your  relations  with  us  shall  continue. 

I  do. 

Right  Hand  of  Fellowship 
(Here  the  Church  will  rise.) 

We  then,  meanbers  of  this  church  of  Christ,  receive  you  into 
our  communion,  and  welcome  you  with  joy  to  our  fellowship.  We 
promise  to  unite  with  you  in  Christian  work  and  worship,  to  treat 
you  with  Christian  love,  and  to  exercise  towards  you  the  sympathy 
and  counsel,  the  charity  and  helpfulness  which  become  brethren 
in  the  household  of  our  Father. 

God  grant  that  in  mutual  love,  and  abundant  helpfulness  to 
others,  we  may  illustrate  the  doctrine  of  Christ  our  Saviour,  and,  so 
far  as  in  us  lies,  cause  the  kingdom  of  God  to  come,  and  His  will 
to  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

In  token  of  our  confidence  and  sincerity,  receive  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship. 

PIEDMONT   CHURCH,   WORCESTER 

Piedmont  Church  in  January  31,  1916,  adopted  new  articles  of 
faith  and  Covenant.  The  pastor.  Dr.  Bradley,  furnishes  the  fol- 
lowing statement: 

"The  New  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Covenant  were  adopted  by 
the  Church  by  a  unanimous  vote.    The  thought  was  in  many  minds, 


*From  the  covenant  of  the  church  at  Scrooby,  1602. 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  93 

and  was  expressed  by  sevej-al,  that  in  adopting  a  new  and  briefer 
statement  we  are  in  no  way  saying  that  we  do  not  believe  the  arti- 
cles adopted  in  1912  to  be  true.  We  do  believe  them  to  be  true,  and 
regard  them  as  the  most  admirable  statements  we  have  ever  seen 
of  the  points  of  doctrine  with  which  they  deal.  Our  reasons  for 
adopting  the  briefer  form  are  chiefly  that  the  shorter  articles  lend 
themselves  to  use  in  our  services,  and  especially  our  conviction 
that  we  should  lay  emphasis  upon  purpose  and  not  opinion  in 
receiving  people  into  our  Churches. 

"Piedmont  Church  wishes  to  be,  tolerant  enough,  hospitable 
enough,  true  enough  to  the  broad  Spirit  of  Christ,  who  invited  men 
to  join  Him  in  His  work  without  inquiring  minutely  into  their  theo- 
logical notions,  to  offer  to  men  and  women  whose  hearts  respond 
to  Christ  and  His  ideal  of  service  and  helpfulness,  though  they  may 
feel  very  unsure  of  any  theological  "proposition,  a  hearty  fellowship 
and  a  field  of  service.  Our  first  question  is  not,  'Do  you  think 
straight?'  but  'Do  you  want  to  help?'  Surely  any  reasonable  person 
who  wishes  to  help  forward  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  Church  will 
now  be  unable  to  say,  'I  do  not  join  a  Church  because  I  do  not 
believe  its  creed.'  Most  intellectual  doubts  and  difficulties  disap- 
pear when  we  busy  ourselves  with  services  of  love  and  kindness." 

Covenant 

I  believe  in  one  Infinite  and  Eternal  God,  the  Father  of  all  man- 
kind, the  giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift,  and  the  source  of 
every  noble  thought  and  purpose. 

I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  who  best  reveals  to  us  the  nature  and 
the  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 

I  believe  that  it  is  our  Heavenly  Father's  will  that  all  men, 
everywhere,  should  love  and  serve  each  other  as  brothers. 

I  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  ever  ready  to  help  us  in  our 
strivings  for  Goodness  and  Truth,  and  in  our  efforts  to  advan^-e  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  earth. 

Creed 

I  heartily  enter  this  Christian  fellowship  and  solemnly  covenant 
with  its  members  to  try  daily  to  follow  Jesus  Christ  and  do  the  will 
of  our  Heavenly  Father,  to  attend  upon  the  services  of  this  Church, 
support  its  work  .uphold  its  faith  and  walk  with  its  members  in  love. 

ELIOT  CHURCH,  NEWTON,  MASS. 

Covenant 

We  confess  the  one  only  true  and  living  God  to  be  our  God  and 
Father;  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  our  Redeemer;  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  be  our  Sanctifier,  Comforter,  and  Guide.  We  consecrate 
ourselves  to  the  service  of  God  in  an  everlasting  Covenant,  and 
promise  through  Divine  assistance  to  walk  according  to  His  com- 
mandments. 


94     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

We  acknowledge  this  to  be  a  true  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesup 
Christ;  and  so  long  as  we  continue  members  of  it,  we  promise  to 
attend  its  ordinances  of  worship,  to  promote  its  purity  and  peace, 
to  avoid  error  ,to  submit  to  the  discipline  which  Christ  has  estab- 
lished in  His  Church,  and  to  be  kindly  affectioned  and  faithful  one 
to  another. 

The  Lord  grant  us  grace  to  be  true  to  this  our  Covenant,  and  to 
glorify  Him  with  the  holiness  which  becometh  His  house  forever. 
Amen. 

PARK  CHURCH,  SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

Adopted  in  1904 

Constitution  of  the  Church 

Preamble 

As  a  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  associated  for  the  public  worship 
of  God  and  the  service  of  mankind,  we  declare  our  fellowship  with 
all  those  who  love  our  Lord.  We  covenant  together  for  mutual 
helpfulness  in  work  and  worship.  We  express  our  common  faith, 
not  as  a  result  of  complete  knowledge  or  as  a  condition  of  fellow- 
ship, but  to  indicate  our  common  apprehension  of  God's  truth. 

Covenant 

As  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  relying  upon  his  strength,  we 
covenant  with  him  and  with  each  other  to  love  God  and  to  obey  his 
law  as  far  as  he  shall  make  it  known  to  us;  to  forsake  sin  and  to 
battle  with  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil;  to  speak  the  truth  in 
love,  and  to  take  thought  for  things  honorable  in  the  sight  of  all 
men;  to  endeavor  to  bring  the  Kingdom  of  God  to  the  earth;  and 
to  glorify  him  in  every  word  and  deed. 

As  associates  in  the  fellowship  of  this  Church,  we  pledge  our- 
selves to  join  in  its  work  and  worship  according  to  the,  measure  of 
our  ability;  to  seek  one  another's  welfare;  to  think  and  speak  in 
charity;  and  to  do  good  to  each  other  and  to  all  men  as  we  have 
opportunity. 

Creed 

We  confess  our  belief  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  who  has 
made  and  who  maintains  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  all  that  is 
therein.  We  believe  that  he  is  holy  and  loving,  and  that  he  desires 
men  to  know  and  love  him.  We  believe  that  he  has  sent  his  Son, 
Jesus  Christ,  to  bring  light  and  life  to  the  world,  and  that  through 
the  Holy  Spirit  he  sends  that  light  and  life  into  the  hearts  of  all 
who  will  receive  him.  We  believe  that  men  have  been  made  in 
God's  image  to  be  God's  sons,  that  they  have  wilfully  and  ignorantly 
turned  away  from  their  inheritance*  and  that  peace  between  the 
holy  God  and  sinful  man  can  be  made  only  by  the  cross  of  Jesus 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  95 

Christ.  We  believe  that  Jesus,  having  risen  from  the  dead  and  as- 
cended into  heaven,  rules  over  the  world  and  mediates  between  God 
and  man;  and  that  in  his  own  time  he  shall  come  again  to  judge 
the  world  and  to  receive  to  himself  those  who  have  committed  their 
lives  to  him.  We,  believe  that  Jesus  while  on  earth  founded  his 
Church  to  be  a  witness  to  him  through  the  maintenance  of  worship, 
the  preaching  and  teaching  of  his  truth,  and  the  sacraments  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  We  believe  that  the  Church  is  en- 
trusted with  his  work,  and  that  it,  like  him,  must  go  about  doing 
good  and  endeavoring  to  make  the  Kingdom  of  God  real  on  earth. 
We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  con- 
tain the  records  of  God's  dealing  with  men  and  his  will  for  men's 
conduct;  and  that  .illuminated  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  furnish  the 
true  standard  of  Christian  life  and  thought. 

NORTH  CHURCH,  SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

North  Church  has  a  brief  confession  of  faith,  liturgical  in  form,   , 
but  does  not  use  it  in  admission  of  members. 

Covenant 

In  the  presence  of  God  and  men  you  now  avow  the  Lord  Je- 
hovah. Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  to  be  your  God.  You  take  His 
word  to  be  the  law  of  your  life,  and,  renouncing  all  sinful  pleasures 
and  all  unholy  calling,  you  consecrate  your  powers  and  your  pos- 
sessions to  His  service  forever.  To  speak  that  which  is  true;  to  do 
that  which  is  right;  to  be  honest  in  your  dealings  with  men;  to  be 
faithful  in  your  duties  to  God — this  is  the  life  which,  by  God's  grace, 
you  mean  to  live. 

With  this  Church  you  covenant  to  join  in  work  and  in  worship; 
seeking  not  only  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  also  to  minister;  doing 
good  to  all  men  as  you  have  opportunity,  especially  to  them  who  are 
of  this  household  of  faith.  You  promise  to  submit  to  its  rules  and 
its  discipline;  to  maintain  a  prayerful  spirit,  and  to  honor  your 
Christian  calling  by  a  life  of  piety  toward  God,  and  charity  toward 
men. 

Is  this  your  promise? 

Joyfully,  then,  do  we,  the  members  of  this  Church,  receive  you 
to  our  communion.  We  remember  the  new  commandment  of  our 
Lord,  and,  in  our  converse  with  you,  we  Avill  strive  to  obey  it.  To 
help  you  ,  as  we  can.  in  bearing  your  burdens;  to  give  you.  as  you 
need.  Christian  counsel  and  sympathy;  to  lead  you,  if  we  may.  in 
the  way  of  life  eternal;  to  be  patient  with  you.  and  faithful  to  you 
if  you  go  astray;  to  be  jealous  of  your  good  name;  to  hold  your 
peace  and  welfare  as  our  own;  to  fulfill  to  you  in  all  ways,  so  far 
as  in  us  lies,  the  law  of  Christ  our  Lord. — this  is  our  purpose  and 
our  promise,  for  which  we  humbly  ask  grace  divine,  that  we  may 
truly  keep. 


96  CONGREGATIONAL   CREEDS   AND   COVENANTS 

SECOND  CHURCH,  WATERBURY,  CONN. 
Articles  of  Faith 

We  believe  in  God,  the  Father  and  Ruler  of  us  all. 

We  beJieve  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  as  the  supreme  revelation 
of  God. 

We  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  that  God  by  His  Spirit 
comes  into  our  hearts  to  restrain  us  from  evil  and  to  inspire  us  to 
goodness  and  truth. 

We  believe  in  the  Scriptures  in  that  they  hold  before  us  the  path 
of  highest  duty  and  the  highest  hopes  for  this  world  and  for  the 
world  to  come. 

We  believe  in  the  Church  as  a  divinely  appointed  agency  for 
fellowship  and  service. 

We  believe  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  righteousness,  the  resur- 
rection from  the  dead  and  the  life  everlasting. 

Covenant 

You  do  now  with  true  humility  and  with  grateful  trust  in  God 
publicly  consecrate  yourself  to  His  worship  and  service.  And  you 
do  promise,  as  far  as  lies  within  your  power,  to  submit  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  church,  to  love  and  watch  over  its  members,  to  at- 
tend its  worship,  uphold  its  discipline,  and  promote  its  purity,  peace 
and  growth. 

Do  you  so  covenant  with  God  and  this  church? 

Those  who  are  to  be  received  by  letter  may  now  present  them- 
selves.    (The  minister  shall  read  their  names.) 

Having  previously  consecrated  yourself  to  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
and  to  His  worship  and  service,  and  desiring  now  to  enter  into 
special  relation  with  this  church,  you  do  promise  to  seek  its  peace, 
purity  and  prosperity.     Do  you  thus  engage  ? 

(The  members  of  this  church  will  rise.) 

We  then,  the  members  of  this  church,  do  most  cordially  receive 
you  into  our  communion  and  fellowship.  In  the  name  of  our  com- 
mon Lord  we  welcome  you  to  the  blessings  of  His  covenant,  to  the 
duties  and  privileges  and  joys  of  His  Church.  We  promise  to  walk 
with  you  in  Christian  love  and  service,  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  may 
bei  established  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

FIRST  CHURCH,  JACKSON,  MICHIGAN 

Covenant 

Will  you  enter  into  covenant  with  the  members  of  this  Church 
in  an  endeavor  to  express  in  their  individual  and  corporate  life  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  pledging  loyalty  to  Him,  his  teachings,  and  His  way 
of  life?  Will  you  work  with  the  members  of  this  Church  to  extend 
His  kingdom  in  the  world?  Will  you  support  the  spiritual,  educa- 
tional, financial,  benevolent  and   social   interests  of  this   Church; 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  97 

laboring  and  praying  for  its  increase,  its  purity  and  peace,  and  seek 
to  make  it  a  power  for  good? 

Answer:  I  will. 

Here  the  members  of  the  Church  will  rise,  and  the  minister 
will  say: 

We,  then,  the  members  of  this  Church,  extend  to  you  a  Christian 
welcome  and  do  heartily  receive  you  into  the  fellowship  of  this 
Church.  We  desire  to  share  with  you  its  inheritances  and  vision,  its 
responsibilities  and  privileges,  its  sacrifices  and  rewards.  We 
pledge  to  you  a  Christian  sympathy  and  concern;  we  promise  to 
walk  with  you  in  the  way  of  loving  service;  to  be  patient  with  you 
and  faithful  to  you;  to  be  jealous  of  your  good  name;  to  hold  your 
peace  and  welfare  as  our  own  and  thus  fulfill  a  Christian  fellowship. 

EUCLID  AVENUE  CHURCH,  CLEVELAND 

The  Euclid  Avenue  Church  has  the  Kansas  City  Creed,  and 
employs  the  following  Covenant: 

"You  do  now  in  the  presence  of  God  and  men,  accepting  Jesus 
Christ  as  Lord  and  Master,  solemnly  dedicate  yourselves  and  all 
you  are  to  the  service  of  God.  You  do  covenant  that  by  the  grace 
of  God  assisting  you,  you  will  love  and  serve  Him  all  your  lives; 
that  you  will  glorify  Him  by  following  Jesus  in  promoting  the  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  good  of  men;  that  you  will  strive  to  obey  the 
inward  voice  of  the  Spirit,  and  speak  and  do  whatever  is  right  and 
true  and  holy,  so  far  as  you  perceive  truth." 

Do  you  thus  covenant? 

NEW  ENGLAND  CHURCH,  CHICAGO 
Covenant 

You,  now,  in  the  presence  of  God,  angels  and  men,  do  acknowl- 
edge the  Lord  Jehovah  to  be  your  God.  You  confess  the  Father  to 
be  your  Father;  the  Son  to  be  your  Savior;  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be 
your  Sanctifier. 

You  take  God's  Word  to  be  the  guide  of  your  life;  and,  renounc- 
ing the  dominion  of  this  world,  you  consecrate  both  soul  and  body 
unto  the  service  of  God,  promising,  by  His  help,  to  keep  your  conse- 
cration unto  the  end. 

[Those  uniting  by  Letter  will  here  rise.] 

You,  who,  in  the  fellowship  of  the  saints,  have  come  to  us  from 
other  Churches  of  our  Lord,  do  covenant  with  this  Church  to  join  in 
its  ordinances  and  public  worship;  to  submit  to  its  rules  and  disci- 
pline; to  strive  for  its  purity  and  peace. 

You  will  walk  with  its  members  in  love  and  faithfulness,  as  long 
as  you  shall  continue  among  them. 

Thus  you  covenant. 

[The  Church  will  here  rise.] 

We,  then,  the  members  of  this  Church  of  Christ,  do  joyfully  re- 
ceive you.    We  welcome  you  to  cm-  communion  and  fellowship.    We 


98     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

promise  to  you  our  sympathies,  our  watchfulness,  our  prayers.  We 
greet  you  as  members  with  us  of  the  spiritual  body  of  Christ.  We 
unite  with  you  in  the  acknowledgement  of  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
baptism.  And  may  God  enable  us  all  toi  be  truei  to  each  other,  and 
to  the  brotherhood  and  charity  of  the  saints,  and  to  Himself  for- 
ever. 

FIRST  CHURCH,  ROGERS  PARK,  CHICAGO 

The  Covenant 

Dearly  beloved,  called  of  God  to  be  His  children  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  you  are,  here  that,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  His 
people,  you  may  enter  into  the  fellowship  and  communion  of  His 
church.  You  do  truly  repent  of  your  sins:  you  heartily  receive 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  crucified  Savior  and  Lord:  you  consecrate 
yourselvefi  unto  God,  and  your  life  to  His  service:  you  accept  His 
word  as  your  law,  and  His  Spirit  as  your  Comforter  and  Guide :  and 
trusting  in  His  grace  to  confirm  and  strengthen  you  in  all  goodness, 
you  promise  to  do  God's  Holy  Will,  and  to  walk  with  this  church 
in  the  truth  and  peace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

You  do  cordially  join  yourselves  to  this  church,  engaging  to 
submit  to  its  government  and  discipline,:  to  promote  Its  purity, 
peace  a^nd  edification:  to  walk  with  its  members  in  the  spirit  of 
Christian  love,  and  to  discharge  all  those  duties  whereby  God  may 
be  glorified  and  the  Kingdom  of  His  dear  Son  promoted  and  estab- 
lished among  men. 

Affirmation  of  Candidate 

We  unite  with  you  in  church  fellowship,  believing  that  thus  we 
shall  the  better  honor  God,  strengthen  God's  children,  encourage 
the  God-like  in  all  our  fellow  men,  and  build  up  a  spiritual  kingdom 
in  our  own  hearts  and  in  the  world. 

We  promise,  as  God  gives  us  ability,  to  sustain  by  our  presence, 
our  prayers  and  our  offerings,  all  the  public  services  of  the  church, 
and  to  labor  with  you  in  extending  Christian  influence. 

Response  of  the  Church 

We  welcome  you  into  our  fellowship.  We  promise  to  watch 
over  you  with  Christian  love.  God  grant  that  ,loving  and  being 
loved,  serving  and  being  served,  blessing  and  being  blessed,  we  may 
be  prepared,  while  we  dwell  together  on  earth,  for  the  perfect  com- 
munion of  the  saints  in  Heaven. 

May  the  Lord  be  gracious  unto  us,  and  bring  us  into  His  pres- 
ence. 

PLYMOUTH  CHURCH,  DES  MOINES,  IOWA 

Plymouth  Church  has  the  Kansas  City  Confession,  to  which 
assent  is  not  required  . 


I 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  99 

Order  for  the  Reception  of  Members 

Dearly  Beloved,  you  are  here  in  the  presence  of  God  and  His 
people  that  you  may  enter  into  the  communion  and  fellowship  of 
His  Church.  We  believe  in  God  as  our  Father  and  in  Jesus  .Christ 
as  our  teacher  and  Saviour.  Together  we  are  striving  to  learn  the 
meaning  of  life  and  to  walk  as  becometh  the  children  of  God. 

In  coming  into  membership  in  the  Church  we  are  recognizing 
your  right.  We  are  confirming  you  in  the  privileges  and  oppor- 
tunities of  the  Church.  It  is  your  Church  and  we  are  Christian 
friends.  We  want  to  help  you  to  become  strong  and  true  in  the 
Christian  faith.  As  Christians  you  are  to  learn  the  meaning  of 
right  and  wrong,  your  duty  to  God,  the,  helpfulness  of  prayer,  the 
joy  of  unselfishness  and  the  meaning  of  Christ's  teaching.  This 
should  be  your  aim. 

Do  you  promise  to  be  faithful  to  the  Church  and  strive  to  learn 
the  ways  of  Christ,  that  you  may  know  what  your  duties  to  God 
and  men  are? 

Response  of  the  Church 

We  then  ,the  members  of  this  Church,  receive  you  with  joy  into 
our  fellowship  and  communion,  and  we  promise  to  walk  with  you 
in  Christian  love  and  sympathy.  God  grant  that  loving  and  being 
loved,  serving  and  being  served,  blessing  and  being  blessed,  we  may 
know  the  fullest  joys  of  Christian  fellowship. 

FIRST  CHURCH,  DETROIT 

Dearly  beloved,  called  of  God  to  His  children  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  you  are  here  that  in  the  presence  of  God  and  His 
people  you  may  enter  into  the  fellowship  and  communion  of  His 
Church.  You  do  truly  repent  of  your  sins;  you  heartily  receive 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  Crucified  Saviour  and  Risen  Lord;  you  conse- 
crate yourself  unto  God  and  your  lives  to  His  service;  you  accept 
His  word  as  your  law,  and  His  spirit  as  your  comforter  and  guide; 
and.  trusting  in  His  grace  to  confirm  and  strengthen  you  in  all 
goodness,  you  promise  to  do  God's  holy  will  and  to  walk  with  this 
Church  in  the  trutli  and  peace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

You  covenant  with  us  that  you  will  be  ioyal  to  the  interests  of 
this  Church,  as  long  as  you  remain  members  of  it,  that  you  will 
share  in  its  services  as  God  shall  give  you  strength,  that  you  will 
give  for  its  support  and  missionary  work,  as  God  shall  prosper  you, 
and  that  you  will  co-operate  in  its  work  in  such  manner  as  you  may 
be  able,  to  the  end  that  we  may  together  serve  Him  who  is  the  Head 
of  the  Church,  and  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  may  come  and  His  will 
be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

Welcome  by  the  Church 

We  welcome  you  into  our  fellowship.  We  promise  to  watch 
oveir  you  with  Christian  love.     God  grant  that,  loving  and  being 


100     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

loved,  serving  and  being  served,  blessing  and  beingblessed,  we  may 
be  prepared  while  we  dwell  together  on  earth  for  the  perfect  com- 
munion of  the  saints  in  heaven. 

FIRST  CHURCH,  DENVER,  COLORADO 

Covenant 

We  promise  to  co-operate  with  the  members  of  this  church  in 
the  study  and  practice  of  that  law  which  Christ  taught  as  supreme: 
"Thou  Shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all 
thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength  ,and  with  all  thy  mind;  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself." 

PILGRIM  CHURCH,  ST.  LOUIS 

Pilgrim  Church  uses  with  some  modification  the  form  of  admis- 
sion of  1895,  and  adds  this: 

Covenant  of  Christian  Discipleship 

Recognizing  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word  but  in 
deed,  we  ask  you  before  God  and  man  to  accept  severally  and  in- 
dividually, the  covenant  under  which  we  are  all  living  and  laboring 
together : 

(The  new  members  will  repeat  together  with  the  Pastor) 

Looking  to  God  in  his  loving  kindness  to  guide  by  his  light  and 
to  empower  by  his  grace,  I  hereby  take  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be 
my  Master,  consecrating  to  Him  and  to  his  service  all  that  I  am 
and  all  that  I  have;  promising  that  I  will  make  it  the  supreme 
purpose  of  my  life  to  grow  into  his  likeness  and  to  do  his  works  of 
love. 

That  I  may  cultivate  the  life  of  faith  and  be  fitted  for  the  largest 
service,  I  herby  promise  to  search  the  Scriptures;  to  maintain  the 
life  of  prayer;  and  to  devote  myself  in  all  the  activities  of  my  life 
to  bring  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  Covenant  with  this  Church 

You  promise  to  magnify  the  privilege  of  the  fellowship  into 
which  you  this  day  enter;  to  hold  the  name  of  this  church  dear;  to 
avoid  anything  which  may  bring  reproach  upon  its  honor;  regularly 
to  attend  its  services;  cheerfully  to  contribute,  according  lo  your 
ability,  to  its  support;  generously  to  aid  it  in  the  extension  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  to  endeavor  so 
to  conduct  yourself  that  your  life  shall  promote  its  efficiency,  purity 
and  peace. 

Do  you  thus  promise? 

Response — I  do. 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  101 

The  Welcome  Into  Fellowship 

(Here  the  members  of  the  church  will  rise) 
We,  then,  the  members  of  this  church,  joyfully  receive  you  into 
our  communion,  promising  to  walk  with  you  in  Christian  love  as 
members  of  the  Household  of  the  Faith;  to  help  you  in  bearing  your 
burdens;  to  promote  your  welfare  as  far  as  in  us  lie,s;  and  to  fulfill 
to  you  the  law  of  Christ  our  Lord;  praying  that  while  we  dwell  to- 
gether here  we  may  be  prepared  for  the  perfect  fellowship  of  the 
life  eternal.    God  grant  that  we  may  be  faithful  to  this  covenant. 

FIRST  CHURCH,  LINCOLN,  NEBRASKA 

Reception  of  Members 

You  are  now  to  enter  into  covenant  with  God  and  His  people. 
You  take  God  the  P'ather  to  be  your  God :  you  take  Jesus  Christ  His 
Son  to  be  your  Savior  and  Teacher  and  Lord;  you  take  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  be  your  Guide ;  you  take  the  Word  of  God  to  be  your  rule 
of  faith  and  duty  and  the  people  of  God  to  be  your  brethren.  And 
you  promise  in  humble  dependence  upon  divine  heJp  that  you  will 
strive  to  live  a  life  of  service  and  of  love,  seeking  to  become  like 
Jesus  Christ  and  to  advance  His  Kingdom  in  the  world,  studying 
day  by  day  the  Bible  and  seeking  communion  with  God  in  prayer. 
Do  you  thus  believe  and  promise? 

Answer,  I  do. 

The  Members  of  the  Church  Unite  in  this  Response: 
We,,  the  members  of  this  church,  do  affectionately  welcome  you 
into  our  household  of  faith.  We  pledge  to  you  our  sympathy,  our 
help  and  our  prayers  that  you  may  evermore  increase  in  the  knowl- 
edge and  love  of  God.  By  His  grace  may  we  all  walk  worthy  of  the 
calling  wherewith  we  were  called,  wuth  all  lowliness  and  meekness, 
with  long-suffering  forbearing  one  another  in  love,  giving  diligence 
to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  Living  and 
dying  may  we  be  the  Lord's.  And  at  last  may  we.  more  than  con- 
querors through  Him  that  hath  loved  us.  find  entrance  into  the 
church  above  where  our  fellowship  shall  be  unbroken  and  our  joy 
forever  full. 

PLYMOUTH  CHURCH,  DENVER 

Plymouth  employs  a  personal  covenant,  signed  by  each  member. 
This  was  arranged  especially  for  young  people,  who  retain  a  dupli- 
cate of  the  card  signed. 

I  accept  thankfully  God's  great  love  to  me.  It  is  my  sincere 
desire  and  purpose  to  give  Him  my  heart;  to  love  Him,  to  please 
Him  and  to  give  my  life  to  Him. 

I  acknowledge  the  need  of  the  help  and  guidance  of  Christ.  And 
I  take  Him  to  be  my  Personal  Friend,  my  Saviour  from  sin  and  the 
King  of  my  heart  and  my  life. 


102     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

I  mean,  God  helping  me,  to  live  a  Christian  life  daily  and  al- 
ways; to  pray  each  day  for  God's  guidance  and  help;  to  live  in 
friendliness  and  helpfulness  with  those  about  me;  to  be  faithful  in 
my  work,  whatever  it  is;  and  to  keep  my  heart  and  my  life  pure. 

I  wish  to  be  useful.  I  mean  to  use  my  influence  for  Christ  and 
to  be  known  as  His  disciple.  And  it  is  my  purpose  to  become  a 
member  of  His  Church,  for  the  sake  of  my  own  Christian  growth 
and  my  larger  usefulness  . 

THE  FIRST  CHURCH,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

(This  church  has  the  Dayton  Creed,  but  consent  to  this  Cove- 
nant is  the  only  requirement  for  admission  to  membership  in  this 
church.) 

Believing  in  the  life  and  love  of  service  as  set  forth  in  the  work 
and  teachings  of  Jesus,  in  the  Church  as  an  organized  force  in  the 
world,  the  purpose  of  which  is  to  win  men  to  Christ  and  to  save 
them  for  this  world  and  the  world  to  come,  I  cordially  connect 
myself  with  this  church  in  a  direct  and  special  union,  engaging  to 
submit  to  its  rules  of  government  and  discipline,  to  attend  in  so  far 
as  possible  its  ordinances  of  worship;  to  contribute  to  its  support 
and  its  benevolences  as  the  Lord  prospers  me,  and  to  walk  with  its 
members  in  meekness,  fidelity  and  love. 

FIRST  CHURCH,  BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 

Covenant 

Believing  in  the  wisdom  and  the  loving  kindness  of  God,  our 
Father,  and  in  the  saving  power  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  the  true 
and  living  Way,  and  in  the  leadership  of  the  Spirit;  believing  also  in 
the  supremacy  of  Love,  the  victory  of  holy  character  and  the  Life 
Eternal,  you  covenant  with  this  Church  as  your  Church.  You  prom- 
ise to  love  its  members,  to  sustain  its  worship,  to  seek  its  peace, 
purity,  and  increase,  to  share  the  great  work  of  revealing  God  to 
men,  of  awakening  men  to  themselves  and  to  God,  and  of  uniting 
men  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  to  transform  the  world  into  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

We  the  members  of  this  Church  and  of  the  Church  Universal 
welcome  you  to  our  household  of  faith.  We  break  the  bread  of  life 
with  you  and  drink  the  cup  of  blessing.  We  share  with  you  the 
joy  of  winning  men  to  our  Master.  We  engage  to  walk  with  you  in 
Christian  fellowship.  We  covenant  with  you  to  make  the  Church  a 
Church  of  prayer,  of  right  living,  and  of  union  with  Christ  and  with 
His  disciples  everywhere  in  the  service  of  God  and  man. 

The  covenant  of  the  United  Church  of  Bridgeport,  Con- 
necticut, is  interesting,  as  this  church  was  organized  in  1916 
out  of  the  union  of  two  churches,  one  foiTned  in  1695  and  the 


COVENANTS  OLD  AND  NEW  103 

other  in  1830.  The  large  church  resulting  from  this  union  is 
one  of  the  strongest  in  New  England,  and  its  platform  is  of 
especial  interest.  Its  confession  of  faith  is  the  National  Coun- 
cil Creed  of  1913,  and  its  fonn  of  admission  of  members 
follows : 

UNITED  CHURCH,  BRIDGEPORT,  CONN. 

Order  for  the  Reception  of  New  Members. 

Address 
Beloved  in  Christ:  — 

You  come  before  us  to  make  confession  of  the  faith  that  is 
in  your  hearts  and  to  enter  into  the  communion  and  fellowship  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.  Conscious  of  your  unworthiness  in  the  sight 
of  God.  you  do,  with  contrition  and  faith,  humbly  accept  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  Master,  earnestly  purposing  to  be  obedient  to 
Him  in  all  things,  as  He  shall  give  you  grace  and  strength. 

Statement  of  Faith 

We  believe  in  God  the  Father,  infinite  in  Wisdom,  Goodness  and 
Love,  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son-  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  who  for  us 
and  our  salvation  lived  and  died  and  rose  again  and  liveth  evermore; 
and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  taketh  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  re- 
vealeth  them  to  us,  renewing,  comforting  and  inspiring  the  souls  of 
men.  We  are  united  in  striving  to  know  the  will  of  God  as  taught 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  in  our  purpose  to  walk  in  His  ways  as 
they  are  made  known  to  us.  We  hold  it  to  be  the  mission  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  to  proclaim  the  gospel  to  all  mankind,  exalting  the 
worship  of  the  one  true  God,  and  laboring  for  the  progress  of 
knowledge,  the  promotion  of  justice,  the  reign  of  peace  and  the 
realization  of  human  brotherhood.  Depending,  as  did  our  fathers, 
upon  the  continual  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  lead  us  into  all 
truth,  we  work  and  pray  for  the  transformation  of  the  world  into 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  we  look  with  faith  for  the  triumph  of  right- 
eousness and  the  life  everlasting. 

Question— Is  this  also  your  belief  and  your  purpose? 

Answer — It  is  . 

(Then  should  follow  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism.) 

To  the  Candidates  previously  baptized: — ^You  were  baptized  in 
infancy,  at  the  will  of  your  parents,  into  the  household  of  Christ. 
Do  you  now,  of  your  own  will  and  choice,  accept  and  confirm  that 
act  of  consecration? 

Answer:  I  do. 
To  the  Candidates  by  Letter: 

Dearly  Beloved: — You  have  already  been  received  into  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  greater  Church  of  Christ.  May  God  bless  to  you  the 
ministrations  of  this  church,  and  may  you  strive,  with  us,  to  enlarge 
its  usefulness  and  increase  its  power. 


104  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Covenant 

To  all  the  Candidates: — In  the  presence  of  God  and  of  these 
witnesses,  you  do  all  now  promise  to  give  yourselves  unreservedly 
to  His  service,  to  strive  to  know  and  to  do  His  holy  will,  and  to 
walk  with  all  men,  everywhere,  in  the  love  and  peace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Chi'ist.  And  you  do  covenant  with  this  church  to  join  heartily 
in  its  fellowship  of  work  and  worship,  to  pray  and  to  labor  for  its 
increase,  purity  and  peace  and  to  further  all  its  endeavors  ta  serve 
and  save  your  fellowmen. 

Question: Do  you  thus  covenant  with  God  and  with  us? 

Answer:  I  do. 

The  Church  (rising) — Then  do  we,  the  members  of  this  church, 
gladly  welcome  you  to  a  part  with  us  in  the  hopes,  the  labors  and 
the  joys  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  We  promise  to  walk  with  you  in 
Christian  love  and  sympathy,  and  to  promote,  so  far  as  in  us  lies, 
your  edification  in  the  Christian  life.  We  earnestly  renew  our  own 
covenant  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  again  dedicate  ourselves  to  His 
service  and  the  doing  of  His  will.  And  may  God  keep  us  true  to 
Him  in  all  things,  and  bring  us  every  one  at  length  into  the  Church 
triumphant  above! 

Benediction _ 

The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee; 

The  Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious 
unto  thee; 

The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee 
peace.    Num.  6:  24-26. 

Concluding  words  to  new  members 

"So  then  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  sojourners,  but  ye  are 
fellow  citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God. 

"Being  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  cornerstone.  In  whom  each 
several  building  fitly  framed  together  groweth  into  a  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord."    Eph.  2:  19-21. 


PART  TWO 
CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS 

I.  EARLY  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS. 

The  earliest  Congregational  creeds,  if  we  except  the 
earlier  writings  of  Robert  Browne,  are  the  London  Confession 
of  1589  and  the  Amsterdam  Confession  of  1596. 

We  have  already  considered  the  covenant  of  the  church 
of  which  Richard  Fytz  was  pastor,  and  its  relation  to  the 
Plumbers'  Hall  Congregation  in  London  in  1567.  This  organ- 
ization was  so  harrassed  by  officers  of  the  law,  and  so  many  of 
its  members  were  imprisoned,  that  it  has  been  uncertain 
whether  it  preserved  a  continuity  of  organization  until  1586, 
when  we  again  secure  undeniable  records  of  it.  John  Green- 
wood was  arrested  in  1586,  and  with  Heniy  Barrowe  was  shut 
up  in  the  Fleet  Prison,  where  four  years  later  they  both  gave 
their  lives  as  martyrs  to  their  faith.  Before  their  death  they 
set  forth  a  formal  confesvsion  which  was  published  in  England 
in  1589.  It  is  entitled  "A  True  Description  out  of  the  Word 
of  God  of  the  Visible  Church. ' '  A  copy  of  it  is  in  the  Dexter 
Collection  of  the  Yale  University,  and  the  text  is  reprinted  in 
full  in  Walker's  "Creeds  and  Platforms,"  pp.  33-40.  The 
notable  thing  about  it  is  that  it  contains  practically  no  doc- 
trinal material.     Of  it  Prof.  Walker  says: 

"The  Trve  Description  is  substantially  an  ideal  sketch. 
It  could  not  well  be  othenvise.  Shut  up  in  prison  for  the  ad- 
vocacy of  the  opinions  here  presented,  the  framers  of  this 

105 


106    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

creed  could  look  nowhere  upon  earth  for  full  exemplification 
of  the  polity  in  which  they  believed.  The  church-order  which 
they  longed  for  was,  they  were  confident,  of  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed pattern.  They  read  its  outlines  in  the  New  Testament. 
But  they  had  had  no  experience  with  its  practical  workings, 
and  hence  they  pictured  a  greater  degi'ee  of  spiritual  unity 
and  brotherliness  than  even  Christian  men  and  women  ha-ve 
usually  shown  themselves  capable  of,  and  they  made  little  pro- 
vision for  the  avoidance  of  the  friction  inevitable  at  times  in 
conducting  the  most  harmonious  societies  composed  of  still 
imperfect  men.  But  the  essential  features  of  early  Congrega- 
tionalism are  here.  It  is  first  of  all  a  'Description  ovt  of  the 
Word  of  God.'  The  Bible  is  made  the  ultimate  standard  in 
all  matters  of  church  government,  as  well  as  points  of  doctrine. 
Its  delineations  of  church  polity  and  administration  are  looked 
upon  as  furnishing  an  ample  and  authontative  rule  for  the 
church  in  all  ages.  This  true  church  is  not  the  whole  body 
of  the  baptized  inhabitants  of  a  kingdom,  but  a  company  of 
men  who  can  lay  claim  to  personal  Christian  experience,  and 
who  are  united  to  one  another  and  to  Christ  in  mutual  fellow- 
ship. The  nature  of  the  officers  of  this  church,  their  number, 
duties,  and  character,  are  all  held  to  be  ascertainable  from  the 
same  God-given  "Word.  They  are  not  the  bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons  of  the  Anglican  hierarchy,  but  are  pastor  and  teacher, 
elders,  deacons,  and  widows ;  and  they  hold  their  office  not  by 
royal  appointment  or  the  nomination  of  a  patron,  but  'by 
the  holy  &  free  election  of  the  Lordes  holie  and  free  people.' 
The  whole  administration  of  the  church  is  the  concern  of  all 
the  brethren,  and  the  laws  governing  this  administration  are 
all  derivable  from  the  Scriptures.  But  on  this  very  question 
of  administration,  while  the  Trvc  Description  is  not  as  clear 
as  we  could  wish,  it  is  plain  that  the  creed  is  far  removed  from 
the  practical  democracy  of  Eobert  Browne  or  the  usage  of 
modern  Congregationalism.  The  elders  are  indeed  chosen  by 
the  whole  church,  but  once  having  chosen  them,  the  people  are 


f 


EARLY  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS         107 

to  be  'most  humble,  meek,  obedient,  faithfull,  and  loving.' 
The  ciders  are  to  see  that  the  other  officers  do  their  duties 
aright,  and  the  people  obey.  But  who  shall  see  that  the  ciders 
do  their  duty,  or  who  shall  seriously  limit  them  in  their  ac- 
tion? That  is  not  made  clear.  It  is  evident  that  the  Trve 
Description  would  place  the  elders  apart  from  and  above  the 
brethren  as  a  ruling  class,  having  the  initiative  in  business, 
being  themselves  the  church  in  all  maters  of  excommunication, 
and  leaving  to  the  brethren  only  the  power  of  election,  ap- 
proval of  the  elders'  actions,  and  an  undefined  right  to  reprove 
the  elders  if  their  conduct  should  not  be  in  accord  with  the 
New  Testament  standard.  This  conception  of  the  elders  as  a 
ruling  oligarchy  in  the  church  is,  in  fact,  the  view  elaborated 
by  Barrowe  in  his  other  writings,  and  is  the  theoiy  which  Dr. 
Dexter  happily  termed  Barrowism,  in  distinction  from  the  un- 
intentional but  thorough-going  democracy  of  Kobert  Brovme, 
It  is  a  theory  which  colors  the  creeds  of  more  than  a  century 
of  early  Congregationalism. 

"The  almost  complete  absence  of  distinctly  doctnnal 
statement  in  this  creed  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  these 
London  Separatists  were  in  full  doctrinal  sympathy  with  the 
then  predominantly  Calvinistic  views  of  the  English  Estab- 
lished Church  from  which  they  had  come  out,  and  did  not  feel 
the  necessity  of  demonstrating  their  doctrinal  soundness,  as 
they  were  shortly  after  impelled  to  do,  when  settled  among 
strangers  in  a  foreign  land." — Creeds  and  Platfoi-ms.  pp. 
31,  32. 

The  London  Church,  from  which  issued  'The  True  Des- 
cription,' chose  in  September,  1592,  Francis  Johnson  as  its 
pastor  and  John  Greenwood  as  its  teacher.  Both  of  these 
men  were  soon  in  prison,  and  no  less  than  56  members  of  the 
congregation  shared  the  suffering  and  arrest  of  their  spiritual 
leaders.  Greeiiwood  was  put  to  death ;  Johnson 's  life  was 
spared.  From  the  summer  of  1593  onward  the  members  of 
this  church,  driven  from  their  own  land  by  cruel  persecution. 


108    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

began  assembling  in  the  neighborhood  of  Amsterdam.  In 
1595,  or  possibly  a  little  earlier,  they  called  Henry  Ainsworth 
to  be  their  teacher  in  place  of  Gi-eenwood,  who  had  suffered 
death.  Francis  Johnson  was  still  in  prison  in  London.  The 
church  was  thus  divided,  part  of  it  in  exile  and  part  of  it 
either  in  jail  or  hunted  by  officers  of  the  law  in  the  home  land. 
In  1596  this  persecuted  church  issued  in  Amsterdam  a  booklet 
of  24  pages,  entitled  "A  True  Confession  of  the  Faith,  and 
Humble  Acknowledgement  of  the  Allegiance,  which  We,  Her 
Majesty's  Subjects,  falsely  called  Brownists,  do  Hold  Towards 
God,  and  Yield  to  her  Majesty  and  all  Other  that  are  Over 
us  in  the  Lord."  (For  the  text,  see  Walker's  Creeds  and 
Platforms,  pp.  49-74.)  This  little  book,  Avrought  out  in  the 
heat  of  a  terrible  persecution,  is  more  controversial  in  tone,  and 
contains  somewhat  more  of  doctrine  than  the  earlier  confes- 
sion; but  the  doctrine  v.as  in  the  most  literal  possible  sense  a 
testimony  and  not  a  test.  In  so  far  as  doctrinal  material  was 
Avrought  into  it,  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the 
church  against  false  charges,  or  of  testifying  to  the  essential 
oneness  of  these  early  Congregationalists  with  their  brethren 
in  the  Established  Church  on  vital  matters  of  faith.  It  w^as  in 
polity  they  differed,  not  in  matters  contained  in  the  creed. 

The  next  notable  deliverance  of  Congregationalism  ap- 
peared in  1603,  the  year  of  Elizabeth's  death  and  of  the  coro- 
nation of  James.  The  church  in  Amsterdam  sent  to  the  new 
king,  apparently  by  the  hand  of  Johnson  and  Ainsworth, 
a  petition  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  return  to  their 
own  land  and  worship  God  there  without  being  the  victims  of 
persecution.  This  petition  was  accompanied  by  a  statement 
of  "The  Points  of  Difference"  between  the  Puritans  and  the 
Church  of  England.  There  were  fourteen  of  these  points,  all 
of  them  relating  to  Polity  (Walker  "Creeds  and  Platforms," 
pp.  77-80). 

The  next  document  which  might  be  called  a  Confession 
of  Faith,  was  issued  by  the  Scrooby  Church,  then  in  exile  in 


EARLY  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS         109 

Leyden,  in  1617,  Being  then  earnestly  desirous  of  departing 
from  Holland  and  establishing  themselves  in  America,  this 
church  sent  to  the  Council  of  England  seven  articles,  signed 
by  John  Robinson  and  William  Brewster,  in  which  they  set 
forth  their  distinctive  views  as  a  basis  for  their  plea  as  loyal 
subjects  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  establish  themselves 
in  a  new  home  in  a  new  world.  The  following  is  the  text  of 
these  articles : 

Seven  Articles  which  the  Church  of  Leyden  sent  to  the  Council 
of  England  to  be  considered  of,  in  respect  of  their  Judgments:  oc- 
casioneid  about  their  going  to  Virginia.  [Date  before  Nov.,  1617; 
spelling  modernized.] 

1.  To  the  Confession  of  Faith  published  in  the  name  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  to  every  Article  thereof;  we  do  (with  the 
Reformed  Churche,s  where  we  live,  and  also  elsewhere)  assent 
wholly. 

2.  As  We  do  acknowledge  the  Doctrine  of  Faith  there  taught; 
so  do  we,  the  fruits  and  effects  of  the  same  Doctrine,  to  the  bege,t- 
ting  of  saving  faith  in  thousands  in  the  land,  Conformists  and  Re- 
formists, as  they  are  called:  with  whom  also,  as  with  our  brethren, 
we  do  desire;  to  keep  spiritual  communion  in  peace;  and  will  prac- 
tice in  our  parts  all  lawful  things. 

3.  The  King's  Majesty  we  acknowledge  for  Supreme  Governor 
in  his  Dominions  in  all  causes,  and  over  all  persons:  and  that  none 
may  decline  or  appeal  from  his  authority  or  judgment  in  any  cause 
whatsoever:  but  that  in  all  things  obedience  is  due  unto  him; 
either  active,  if  the  thing  commanded  be  not  against  GOD'S  Word; 
or  passive,  if  it  be,  except  pardon  can  be  obtained. 

4.  We  judge  it  lawful  for  His  Majesty  to  appoint  Bishops  Civil 
Overseers  or  Officers  in  authority  under  him  in  the  several  Provinc- 
es, Dioceses,  Congregations,  or  Parishes,  to  oversee  the  Churches, 
and'  govern  them  civilly  according  to  the  laws  of  the  land:  unto 
whom,  they  are,  in  all  things,  to  give  an  account;  and  by  them,  to 
be  ordered  according  to  godliness. 

5.  The  authority  of  the  present  Bishops  in  the  land,  we  do 
acknowledge  so  far  forth  as  the  same  is  indeed  derived  from  His 
Majesty  unto  them;  and  as  they  proceed  in  his  name:  whom  we 
will  also  therein  honor  in  all  things;  and  him,  in  them. 

6.  We  believe  that  no  Synod,  Classes,  Convocation,  or  Assembly 
of  Ecclesiastical  Officers  hath  any  power  or  authority  at  all  but  as 
the  same  by  the  Magistrate  given  unto  them. 

7.  Lastly,  we  desire  to  give  unto  all  Superiors  due  honor,  to 
preserve  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  with  all  that  fear  GOD,  to  have 
peace  with  all  men  what  in  us  lieth,  and  wherein  we  err  to  be  in- 
structed by  any. 

Subscribed  by  John  Robinson  and  William  Brewster. 


110    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

As  action  upon  their  petition  was  delayed,  and  the  effort 
resulted  in  repeated  disappointment,  the  leaders  of  the  Leyden 
church  had  a  somewhat  extended  correspondence  with  Sir 
John  Wolstenholme,  to  whom  they  wrote  on  December  15, 
1617,  the  following,  which  may  be  considered  a  confession, 
not  of  their  doctrinal  belief,  but  of  their  working  faith: 

1.  We  veryly  beleeve  &  trust  y^  Lord  is  with  us,  unto  wliom 
&  whose  service  we  have  given  ourselves  in  many  trialls;  and  that 
he  will  graciously  prosper  our  indeavours  according  to  y^  simplicitie 
of  our  harts  therin. 

2ly.  We  are  well  weaned  from  y®  delicate  milke  of  our  mother 
countrie*  and  euured  to  ye  diflBculties  of  a  strange  and  hard  land, 
which  yet  in  a  great  parte  we  have  by  patience  overcome. 

3iy.  The  people  are  for  the  body  of  them,  industrious,  &  frugall, 
we  thinke  we  may  safly  say,  as  any  company  of  people  in  the  world. 

4iy.  We  are  knite  togeather  as  a  body  in  a  most  stricte  &  sacred 
bond  and  covenante  of  the  Lord,  of  the  violation  whereof  we  make 
great  conscience,  and  by  vertue  whereof  we  doe  hould  our  selves 
straitly  tied  to  all  care  of  each  others  good,  and  of  ye  whole  by 
eveay  one  and  so  mutually. 

5.  Lastly,  it  is  not  with  us  as  with  other  men,  whom  small 
things  can  discourage,  or  small  discontentments  cause  to  wish  them 
selves  at  home  againe.  We  knowe  our  entertainmente  in  England, 
and  in  Holland;  we  shall  much  prejudice  both  our  arts  &  means  by 
removall;  who,  if  we  should  be  driven  to  returne,  we  should  not 
hope  to  recover  our  present  helps  and  comforts,  neither  indeed 
looke  ever,  for  our  selves,  to  attaine  unto  ye  like  in  any  other  place 
during  our  lives,  w^h  are  now  drawing  towards  their  periods. 

About  a  month  later,  in  January,  1618,  the  Pilgrims  were 
constrained  to  send  two  brief  notes  covering  points  that  had 
been  raised  concerning  their  views  of  the  ministiy  and  kindred 
matter;  and  not  feeling  sure  whether  it  would  be  better  that 
their  views  should  be  presented  in  a  more  concise  or  more 
extended  form,  they  sent  the  two  simultaneously,  both  signed, 
as  the  previous  statements  had  been,  by  John  Robinson  and 
William  Brewster: 

The  first  breefe  note  was  this. 

Touching  y®  Ecclesiasticall  ministrie,  namly  of  pastores  for 
teaching,  elders  for  ruling,  &  deacons  for  distributing  ye  churches 
contribution,  as  allso  for  ye  too  Sacrements,  baptisme,  and  ye  Lords 


EARLY   CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  111 

supper,  we  doe  wholy  and  in  all  points  agree,  with  ye  French  re- 
formed churches,  according  to  their  publick  confession  of  faith. 

The  oath  of  Supremacie  we  shall  willingly  take  if  it  be  required 
of  us,  and  that  convenient  satisfaction  be  not  given  by  our  taking 
ye  oath  of  Alleagence. 

John  Rob: 
William  Brewster. 

Ye  2.  was  this. 

Touching  ye  Ecclesiasticall  ministrie,  &c.  as  in  ye  former,  we 
agree  in  all  things  with  the  French  reformed  churches,  according 
to  their  publick  confession  of  faith;  though  some  small  differences 
be  to  be  found  in  our  practices,  not  at  all  in  y^  substance  of  the 
things,  but  only  in  some  accidentall  circumstances. 

1.  As  first,  thedr  ministers  doe  pray  with  their  heads  covered; 
ours  uncovered. 

2.  We  chose  none  for  Governing  Elders  but  such  as  are  able 
to  teach;  which  abilitie  they  doe  not  require. 

3.  Their  elders  &  deacons  are  annuall,  or  at  most  for  2.  or 
3.  years;  our  perpetuall. 

4.  Our  elders  doe  administer  their  office  in  admonitions  &  ex- 
communications for  publick  scandals,  publickly  &  before  ye  con- 
gregation; theirs  more  privately,  &  in  their  consistories. 

5.  We  doe  administer  baptisme  only  to  such  infants  as  whereof 
ye  one  parente,  at  ye  least,  is  of  some  church,  which  some  of  ther 
churches  doe  not  observe;  though  in  it  our  practice  accords  with 
their  publick  confession  and  ye  judgmente  of  ye  most  lamed 
amongst  them. 

Other  differences,  worthy  mentioning,  we  know  none  in  these 
points.     Then  aboute  ye  oath,  as  in  ye  former. 

Subscribed,  John  R. 

W.  B. 

The  notable  thing  about  all  these  confessions  is  that  from 
first  to  last  they  say  practically  nothing  about  doctrine.  We 
are  entirely  certain  that  none  of  the  men  who  wrought  these 
documents  practiced  or  believed  in  creed  tests  as  a  method 
of  separating  one  Christian  body  from  another. 


11.    LOCAL  CHURCH  CREEDS 

It  has  been  said  repeatedly  that  none  of  the  older  Con- 
gregational churches  had  creeds.  That  statement  need  not  be 
recalled  nor  greatly  qualified.  Yet  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
the  covenant  was  not  regarded  as  sacred  by  reason  of  the 
particular  fonn  of  words  which  it  contained,  but  was  changed 
in  many  cases  at  the  discretion  of  the  minister.  Among  the 
many  confessions  employed  at  one  time  and  another  in  local 
churches  it  would  have  been  strange  if  some  had  not  included 
matter  which  was  more  or  less  doctrinal.  We  have  noted  the 
temporary  use  in  the  Old  South  in  Boston  of  a  quasi  credal 
test  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Samuel  Blair  for  a  few 
months:  in  1769.  There  may  have  been  a  few  other  instances, 
but  if  so  they  were  local  and  for  the  most  part  temporary.  It 
has  been  noted,  also,  that  Rev.  Hugh  Peter,  coming  from  Rot- 
terdam to  the  Church  in  Salem,  renewed  the  covenant,  and 
made  it  longer.  We  are  inforaied  in  contemporary  manu- 
scripts that  Mr.  Peter  was  given  to  making  covenants  of  his 
own  sort,  and  Burrage  notes  some  instances  (The  Covenant 
Idea,  pp.  81-82).  These  covenants  he  imposed  upon  the  mem- 
bers of  his  congregation  as  tests  of  admission  to  the  Lord's 
Supper.  We  have  two  covenants  of  his  church  in  Rotterdam, 
one  of  1633,  and  the  other  of  1635  or  thereabout ;  but  while 
they  were  rigid,  and  were  imposed  as  tests  of  fellowship  at  the 
Lord's  table,  they  were  not  doctrinal.  We  give  here  the  text 
of  this  covenant,  which,  while  not  doctrinal,  was  used  as  a  test 
in  a  sense  that  the  earlier  covenants  were  not  commonly  em- 
ployed : 

112 


LOCAL  CHURCH  CREEDS  113 

THE  COVENANT  OF  THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  AT  ROTERDAME 

The  text  is  from  "A  Briefe  Narration  of  Some  Church  Courses," 
etc.,  by  William  Rathband.  London,  1644.  Pp.  17,  18.  Rathband 
states  concerning  this  covenant  that  it  is  "The  Covenant  of  the 
English  Church  at  Roterdame  (as  is  reported  to  us)  renewed  when 
Mr.  H.  P.  was  made  their  Pastour,"  which  Burrage  shows  cannot 
well  be  correct  as  to  date.  This  probably  dates  from  about  1635, 
shortly  before  Mr.  Peter  came  to  America. 

We  whose  names  are  here-under  written,  having  a  long  time 
found  by  sad  experience  how  uncomfortable  it  is  to  walk  in  a  dis- 
ordered and  unsettled  condition,  &c.  1.  Doe  renue  our  Covenant  in 
Baptisme,  and  avouch  God  to  be  our  God.  2.  We  resolve  to  cleave 
to  the  true  and  pure  worship  of  God,  opposing  to  our  power  all  false 
wayes.  3.  We  will  not  allow  our  selves  in  any  known  sin,  but  will 
renounce  it,  so  soon  as  it  is  manifested  from  Gods  Word  so  to  be: 
the  Lord  lending  us  powder.  4.  We  resolve  to  carry  our  selves  in 
our  seveirall  places  of  government  and  obedience  with  all  good  con- 
science, knewing  we  must  give  an  account  to  God.  5.  We  will 
labour  for  further  growth  in  grace,  by  hearing,  reading,  prayer, 
meditation,  and  all  other  wayes  we  can.  6.  We  meane  not  to  over- 
burthen  our  hearts  with  earthly  cares,  which  are  the  bane  of  all 
holy  duties,  the  breach  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  othex  Command- 
ments. 7.  We  will  willingly  and  meekly  submit  to  Christian  Disci- 
pline, without  murmuring,  and  shall  labour  so  to  continue,  and  will 
endevour  to  be  more  forward,  zealous,  faithful!,  loving  and  wise  in 
admonishing  othea*s.  8.  We  will  labour  by  all  our  abilities  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  Gospell  as  occasion  shall  be  offered  to  us.  9.  We 
promise  to  have  our  children,  servants,  and  all  our  charge  taught 
the  wayes  of  God.  10.  We  will  strive  to  give  no  offence  to  our 
brethren  by  censuring  them  rashly  by  suspitions,  evill  speakings,  or 
any  other  way.  11.  Lastlj%  we  doe  protest  not  onely  against  open 
and  scandalous  sins,  as  drunkennesse,  swearing,  «S:c.,  but  also 
against  evill  companie,  and  all  appearance  of  evill  to  the  utmost  of 
our  power.  Per  me  H.  P. 

When  Mr.  Peter  came  to  Salem,  he  enlarged  the  covenant, 
as  we  have  already  noted,  from  the  simple  fonn  which  had 
been  adoptd  in  1629,  to  that  which  we  have  given  in  the  chap- 
ter on  early  covenants ;  and  thereto  added  certain  particulars. 
It  is  nothing  less  than  remarkable  that  these  were  none  of  them 
doctrinal : 

Peter's  salem  covenant,  1636 

Gather  by  Saints  together  unto  me,  that  have  made  a  covenant 
with  me  by  sacrifice.    Ps.  50:  5. 


114    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

We  whose  names  are  here-under  written,  members  of  the 
present  Church  of  Christ  in  Salem,  having  found  by  sad  experience 
how  dangerous  it  is  to  sitt  loose  to  the  Covenant  wee  make  with  our 
God:  and  how  apt  wee  are  to  wander  into  by  pathes,  even  to  the 
looseing  of  our  first  aimes  in  entring  into  Church  fellowship:  Doe 
therefore  solemnly  in  the  presence  of  the  Eternall  God,  both  for  our 
own  comforts,  and  those  which  shall  or  maye  be  joyned  unto  us, 
renewe  that  Church  Covenant  we  find  this  Church  bound  unto  at 
theire  first  beginning,  viz:  That  We  Covenant  with  the  Lord  and 
with  an  other;  and  doe  bynd  our  selves  in  the  presence  of  God,  to 
walke  together  in  all  his  waies,  according  as  he  is  pleased  to  reveale 
himself  unto  us  in  his  Blessed  word  of  truth.  And  doe  more  e«- 
plicitely  in  the  name  and  feare  of  God,  profess  and  protest  to  walke 
as  followeth  through  the  power  and  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

1  first  wee  avowe  the  Lord  to  be  our  God,  and  our  selves  his 
people  in  the  truth  and  simplicitie  of  our  spirits. 

2  We  give  our  selves  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  word 
of  his  grace,  fore  the  teaching,  ruleing  and  sanctifyeing  of  us  in 
matters  of  worship,  and  Conversation,  resolveing  to  cleave  to  him 
alone  for  life  and  glorie;  and  oppose  all  contrarie  wayes,  cannons 
and  constitutions  of  men  in  his  worship. 

3  Wee  promise  to  walke  with  our  brethren  and  sisters  in  this 
Congregation  with  all  watchfullnes  and  tendei-nes,  avoyding  all 
jelousies,  suspitions,  backbyteings,  censurings,  provoakings,  secrete 
risings  of  spirite  against  them;  but  in  all  offences  to  follow  the  rule 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  to  beare  and  forbeare,  give  and  forgive  as  he 
hath  taught  us. 

4  In  publick  or  in  private,  we  will  willingly  doe  nothing  to  the 
ofence  of  the  Church  but  will  be  willing  to  take  advise  for  ourselves 
and  ours  as  ocasion  shalbe  presented. 

5  Wee  will  not  in  the  Congregation  be  forward  eyther  to  shew 
oure  owne  gifts  or  parts  in  speaking  or  scrupling,  or  there  discover 
the  fayling  of  oure  brethren  or  sisters  butt  atend'  an  orderly  cale 
there  unto;  knowing  how  much  the  Lord  may  be  dishonoured,  and 
his  Gospell  in  the  prefession  of  it,  sleighted,  by  our  distempers,  and 
weaknesses  in  publyck. 

6  Wee  bynd  our  selves  to  studdy  the  advancement  of  the  Gos- 
pell in  all  truth  and  peace,  both  in  regard  of  those  that  are  within, 
or  without,  noe  way  sleigh  ting  our  sister  Churches,  but  useing 
theire  Counsell  as  need  shalbe:  nor  laying  a  stumbling  block  before 
any,  noe  not  the  Indians,  whose  good  we  desire  to  promote,  and  soe 
to  converse,  as  we  may  avoyd  the  verrye  appearance  of  evill. 

7  We  hearbye  promise  to  carrye  our  selves  in  all  lawfull  obd- 
ience,  to  those  that  are  over  us,  in  Church  or  Commonweale,  know- 
ing how  well  pleasing  it  will  be  to  the  Lord,  that  they  should  have 
incouragement  in  theire  places,  by  our  not  greiveing  theyre  spirites 
through  our  Irregularities. 

8  Wee  resolve  to  approve  our  selves  to  the  Lord  in  our  pertic- 
ular  calings,  shunning  ydleness  as  the  bane  of  any  state,  nor  will 
wee  deale  hardly,  or  oppressingly  with  any,  wherein  we  are  the 
Lord's  stewards: 


LOCAL  CHURCH   CREEDS  115 

9  alsoe  promyseing  to  our  best  abilitie  to  teach  our  children 
and  servants,  the  knowledg  of  God  and  his  will,  that  they  may  serve 
him  also;  and  all  this,  not  by  any  streugh  of  our  owne,  but  by  the 
Lord  Christ,  whose  bloud  we  desire  may  sprinckle  this  our  Cove- 
nant made  in  his  name.— Walker:  "Creeds  and  Platforms."  on 
117-118.  ^ 

Something  approaching  a  genuine  creed  arose,  however, 
in  Salem,  in  1665,  "whereby  to  express  their  common  faith 
and  salvation,  and  not  to  be  made  use  of  as  an  imposition  upon 
any."  This  notable  reservation  shows  with  what  care  the 
Puritan  fathers  gave  their  qualified  assent  to  any  form  of 
creed.  Walker  points  out  that  this  was  probably  used  in  part 
as  a  half-way  covenant. — Creeds  and  Platforms,  p.  121. 

THE  CONFESSION  OP  FAITH 
I  do  believe  with  my  heart  and  confess  with  my  mouth. 

Concerning  God. 

That  there  is  but  one  only  true  God  in  three  persons,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  each  of  them  God,  and  all  of 
them  one  and  the  same  Infinite,  Eternal  God,  uiost  "Wise,  Holy, 
Just,  Merclfull  and  Blessed  for  ever. 

Concerning  the  Works  of  God. 

That  this  God  is  the  Maker,  Preserver,  and  Govornour  of  all 
things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  Will,  and  that  God  made 
man  in  his  own  Image,  in  Knowledge,  Holiness  and  Righteousness. 

Concerning  the  Fall  of  Man. 

That  Adam  by  transgressing  the  Command  of  God,  fell  from 
God  and  brought  himself  and  his  posterity  into  a  state,  of  Sin 
and  death,  under  the  Wrath  and  Curse  of  God,  which  I  do  believe 
to  be  my  own  condition  by  nature  as  well  as  any  other. 

Concerning  Jesus  Christ. 

That  God  sent  his  Son  into  the  World,  who  for  our  sakcs  became 
man,  that  he  might  redeem  and  save  us  by  his  Obedience  unto  death, 
and  that  he  arose  from  the  dead,  ascended  unto  Heaven  and  .silteth 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  from  whence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the 
World. 


116  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Concerning  the  Holy  Ghost. 

That  God  the  holy  Ghost  hath  fully  reve,aled  the  Doctrine  of 
Christ  and  will  of  God  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment, which  are  the  Word  of  God,  the  perfect,  perpetuall  and  only 
Rule  of  our  Faith  and  Obedience. 

Concerning  the  Benefits  we  have  by  Christ. 

That  the  same  Spirit  by  Working  Faith  in  Gods  Elect,  applyeth 
unto  them  Christ  with  all  his  Benefits  of  Justification,  and  Sancti- 
flcation,  unto  Salvation,  in  the  use  of  those  Ordinances  which 
God  hath  appointed  in  his  written  word,  which  therefore  ought  to 
be  observed  by  us  until  the  coming  of  Christ. 

Concerning  the  Church  of  Christ. 

That  all  true  Believers  being  united  unto  Christ  as  the  Head, 
make  up  one  Misticall  Church  which  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  the 
members  wherof  having  fellowship  with  the  Father  Son  and  Holy- 
Ghost  by  Faith,  and  one  with  an  other  in  love,  doe  receive  here 
upon  earth  forgiveness  of  Sinnes,  with  the  life  of  grace,  and  at  the 
Resurrection  of  the  Body,  they  shall  receive  everlasting  life.    Amen, 

THE  COVENANT: 

I  do  heartily  take  and  avouch  this  one  God  who  is  made  known 
to  us  in  the  Scripture,  by  the  Name  of  God  the  Father,  and  God 
the  Son  even  Jesus  Christ,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  my  God, 
according  to  the  tenour  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace;  wherein  he 
hath  promised  to  be  a  God  to  the  Faithfull  and  their  seed  after 
them  in  their  Generations,  and  taketh  them  to  be  his  People,  and 
therefore  unfeignedly  repenting  of  all  my  sins,  I  do  give  up  myself 
wholy  unto  this  God  to  believe  in  love,  serve  &  Obey  him  sincerely 
and  faithfully  according  to  his  written  word,  against  all  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  Devil,  the  World,  and  my  own  flesh  and  this  unto  the 
death. 

I  do  also  consent  to  be  a  Member  of  this  particular  Church, 
promising  to  continue  steadfastly  in  fellowship  with  it,  in  the  pub- 
lick  Worship  of  God,  to  submit  to  the  Order  Discipline  and  Govern- 
ment of  Christ  in  it,  and  to  the  Ministerial  teaching  guidance  and 
oversight  of  the  Elders  of  it,  and  to  the  brotherly  watch  of  Fel- 
lowship Members:  and  all  this  according  to  Gods  Word,  and  by 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  enabling  me  thereunto.    Amen. 

Questions  to  be  Answered  at  the  Baptizing  of  Children,  or 
the  substance  to  be  expressed  by  the  Parents. 

Quest.  Doe  you  present  and  give  up  this  child,  or  these  children, 
unto  God  the  Father,  Sonne  and  Holy  Ghost,  to  be  baptized  in  the 
Faith,  and  Engaged  in  the  Covinant  of  God  professed  by  this  Church? 


LOCAL  CHURCH  CREEDS  117 

Quest.  Doe  you  Sollemnly  Promise  in  the  Presence,  of  God, 
that  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  you  will  discharge  your  Covinant  duty 
towards  your  Children,  soe  as  to  bring  them  up  in  the  Nurture  and 
Admonition  of  the  Lord,  teaching  and  commanding  them  to  keep 
the  way  of  God,  that  they  may  be  able  (through  the  grace  of  Christ) 
to  make  a  personall  profession  of  their  Faith  and  to  own  the  Covi- 
nant of  God  themselves  in  due  time. 

The  clearest  exception  to  the  rule  that  the  early  Congre- 
gational churches  had  no  creeds,  is  found  in  the  church  of 
Windsor,  Conn.,  in  a  document  prepared  by  its  pastor,  Rev. 
John  Warham,  in  1647.  It  is  in  credal  fonn,  and  is  the  oldest 
creed  in  Connecticut,  and  one  of  the  oldest  of  all  Congrega- 
tional creeds.  Yet  it  will  be  noted  that  the  doctrinal  part  is 
relatively  small,  being  contained  in  the  first  three  articles 
which  are  virtually  a  preamble  to  the  longer  and  more  funda^ 
mental  articles,  four  in  number,  which  constitute  and  inter- 
pret the  church  covenant.  The  text  is  from  Walker's  "Creeds 
and  Platforms,"  pp.  157-158. 

THE  WaNDSOR  CKEED-CO\"ENANT,   1647 

1.  We  believe  though  God  made  man  in  an  holj'^  and  blessed 
condition,  yet  by  his  fall  he  hath  plunged  himself  and  all  his  pos- 
terity into  a  miserable  state. — Rom.  iii:  23;  v:  12. 

2.  Yet  God  hath  provided  a  sufficient  remedy  in  Christ  for  all 
broken  hearted  sinners  that  are  loosened  from  their  sins  and  selves 
and  world,  and  are  enabled  by  faith  to  look  to  Him  in  Christ,  for 
mercy,  inasmuch  as  Christ  hatli  done  and  suffered  for  such  whatever 
His  justice  requires  to  atonement  and  life:  and  He  doth  accept  His 
merits  and  righteousness  for  them  that  believe  in  Him,  and  im- 
puteth  it  to  them  to  their  justification,  as  if  they  had  satisfied  and 
obeiyed,  themselves. — Heb.  vii:  25;  Mat.  xi:  28;  xxii:  24;  v:  4,  6; 
1  Cor.  i:  30;  Rom.  iv:  3,  5;  v:  19. 

3.  Yet  we  believe  that  there  is  no  other  name  or  means  to  be 
saved  from  guilt  and  the  power  of  sin. — John  xiv:   6;  Acts  iv:   12. 

4.  We  believe  God  hath  made  an  everlasting  covenant  in  Christ 
with  all  penitent  sinners  that  rest  on  him  in  Christ,  never  to  reject, 
or  cease  to  do  them  good. — Heb.  viii:  6;  vii:  22;  1  Sam.  xii:  22; 
Jere.  xxxii:   40. 

5.  We  believe  this  covenant  to  be  reciprocal,  obliging  us  to 
be  his  people,  to  love,  fear,  obey,  cleave  to  him,  and  serve  him  with 
all  our  heart,  mind,  and  soul ;  as  him  to  be  our  God,  to  love,  choose, 
delight  in  us.  and  save  and  bless  us  in  Christ:  yea,  as  his  covenant 
binds  us  to  love  him  and  his  Christ  for  his  own  sake,  so  to  love  our 


118     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

brethren  for  his  sake. — Deut.  x:  12;  Hos.  iii:  3;  ii:  21;  Deut.  xxvi: 
17-19;  John  iv:  21. 

6.  We  believe  that  God's  people,  besides  their  general  covenant 
with  God,  to  walk  in  subjection  to  him,  and  Christian  love  to  all 
his  people,  ought  also  to  join  themselves  into  a  church  covenant 
one  with  another,  and  to  enter  into  a  particular  combination  to- 
gether with  some  of  his  people  to  ej-ect  a  particular  ecclesiastical 
body,  and  kingdom,  and  visible  family  and  household  of  God,  for 
the  managing  of  discipline  and  public  ordinances  of  Christ  in  one 
place  in  a  dutiful  way,  there  to  worship  God  and  Christ,  as  his 
visible  kingdom  and  subjects,  in  that  place  waiting  on  him  for  that 
blessing  of  his  ordinances  and  promises  of  his  covenant,  by  holding 
communion  with  him  and  his  people,  in  the  doctrine  and  discipline 
of  that  visible  kingdom,  where  it  may  be  attained. — Rom.  xii:  4,  5, 
6;  1  Cor.  xii:  27,  28;  Ephes.  iv:  11,  12;  Acts  ii:  47;  Exod.  xii:  43,  44, 
45;  Gen.  xvii:  13;  Isa.  xxiii :  4. 

7.  We  for  ourselves,  in  the  sense,  of  our  misery  by  the  fall 
and  utter  helplessness  elsewhere,  desire  to  renounce  all  other  sav- 
iours but  his  Christ,  and  to  rest  on  God  in  him  alone,  for  all  happi- 
ness, and  salvation  from  all  misery;  and  to  here  bind  ourselves,  in 
the  presence  of  men  and  angels,  by  his  grace  assisting  us,  to  choose 
the  Lord,  to  serve  him,  and  to  walk  in  all  his  ways,  and  to  keep  all 
his  commandments  and  ordinances,  and  his  Christ  to  be  our  king, 
priest  and  prophet,  and  to  receive  his  gospel  alone  for  the  rule  of 
our  faith  and  manners,  and  to  [be]  subject  to  the  whole  will  of 
Christ  so  far  as  we  shall  understand  it;  and  bind  ourse,lves  in  spe- 
cial to  all  the  members  of  this  body,  to  walk  in  reverend  subjection 
in  the  Lord  to  all  our  superiours,  and  in  love,  humility,  wisdom, 
peaceableness,  meekness,  inoffensiveness,  mercy,  charity,  spiritual 
helpfulness,  watchfulness,  chastity,  justice,  truth,  self-denial,  one 
to  another,  and  to  further  the  spiritual  good  one  of  another,  by 
example,  counsel,  admonition,  comfort,  oversight,  according  to  God, 
and  submit  or  [selves]  subject  unto  all  church  administration  in 
the  Lord. 


III.    THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680 

Five  times  the  ("onsvegational  churches  of  the  United 
States  or  the  ('olonies  in  national  gatherings  have  signified  a 
more  or  less  elastic  approval  of  formal  confessions  of  faith. 
These  confessions  fell  into  two  groups,  separated  in  time  by 
nearly  two  hundred  years.  The  first  two  wei'e  the  confessions 
of  Westminster  and  Savoy,  affirmed  with  little  modification 
but  ^vith  a  considerable  degree  of  elasticity,  the  first  in  1648 
and  the  second  in  1680.  These  confessions  were  reaffirmed 
with  an  important  preface,  at  Saybrook,  Connecticut,  in  1708. 

(1)       THE   CAMBRIDGE   PLATFORM   OF   1648 

The  Cambridge  Synod  was  convened  by  call  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Massachusetts,  Avith  particular  reference  to  the 
formulation  of  a  reply  to  two  sets  of  questions  which  had  been 
received  by  ministers  and  churches  in  New  England  from 
churches  and  ministers  in  England.  One  of  these  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  ministers,  and  asked  for  the  judgment  of  the 
New  England  brethren  concerning  "nine  positions;"  the 
other,  was  a  communication  to  the  churches  of  New  England 
from  the  Puritan  churches  of  England  propounding  thiity- 
two  questions  relating  to  church  government.  A  call  was 
issued  by  the  General  Court,  as  follows: 

That  there  be  a  public  assembly  of  the  Elders  and  other  mes- 
sengers of  the  several  churches,  within  this  jurisdiction,  who  may 
come  together,  and  meet  at  Cambridge,  upon  the  first  day  of 
September,  now  next  ensuing,  then  to  discuss,  dispute,  and  clear 
up  by  the  word  of  God,  such  questions  of  church  government  and 
discipline,  in  the  things  aforementioned  or  any  other,  as  they  shall 
think  needful  and  meet,  and  continue  so  doing  till  they  or  the 
major  part  of  them  shall  have  agreed  and  consented  upon  one  form 
of  government  and  discipline,  for  the  main  and  substantial  parts 
thereof,  as  that  which  they  judge  agreeable  to  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

119 


120    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  Synod  convened  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  September, 
1646,  and  continued  in  session  for  fourteen  days.  It  held  two 
adjourned  meetings  in  1647,  and  a  final  ten  days'  session  in 
August,  1648. 

In  the  interval  between  the  extended  sessions  of  the 
Synod,  the  General  Court  submitted  to  the  Synod  the  further 
responsibility  of  setting  forth  "a  confession  of  faith  which  it 
professes  touching  the  doctrinal  part  of  the  religion  also," 
asking  the  Synod  to  consider  seven  different  confessions  that 
had  been  prepared  by  different  New  England  ministers  and  to 
formulate  one  which  might  be  printed  and  commended  to  the 
churches. 

Dr.  Walker  says,  "As  the  Synod  went  on,  the  conception 
of  its  possible  functions  modified.  The  original  thought  of  the 
Court  had  been  a  settlement  of  church  polity,  with  special 
attention  to  the  disputed  questions  of  baptism  and  church 
membership.  Circumstances  had  made  those  questions  less 
pressing,  and  had  brought  into  greater  prominence  the  broad- 
er function  of  the  Synod,  that  of  giving  a  Constitution  to  the 
churches,  but  it  might  do  even  more.  The  Westminster  As- 
sembly had  prepared  a  Confession  of  Faith  in  regard  to  which 
much  secrecy  was  still  observed.  It  had  not  yet  been  adopted 
by  Parliament,  though  approved  August  27,  1647,  by  the 
Scotch  General  Assembly.  There  was  reason  to  fear  that  it 
might  not  be  wholly  satisfactory,  and  therefore  at  its  session 
on  October  27,  1647,  the  Massachusetts  General  Court  added 
to  the  duties  of  the  Synod  that  of  preparing  a  Confession  of 
Faith.  "—Creeds  and  Platforms,  pp.  182,  183. 

By  the  time  the  Synod  met  again  in  1648,  copies  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  were  in  the  hands  of  the  members  of 
that  body.  It  offered  a  convenient  way  out  of  a  more  or  less 
difficult  situation.  It  saved  the  Synod  any  trouble  in  the  way 
of  choosing  among  the  confessions  that  had  been  prepared  for 
other  purposes  by  the  different  ministers  within  its  member- 
ship, and  what  was  more  important,  it  enabled  the  Puritans  of 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  121 

New  England  to  certify  to  the  Puritans  of  old  Enj^land  that 
they  were  more  orthodox  than  they  had  been  suspected  of 
being.  Instead,  therefore,  of  preparing  a  new  creed,  they 
voted  to  approve  the  doctrinal  part  of  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession * '  for  the  substance  thereof. ' '  They  came  very  quickly 
to  this  agi'cement,  and  were  happy  that  they  were  able  to  do 
so.  They  joined  in  a  parting  hymn  and  went  home  sooner 
than  they  had  anticipated. 

For  the  most  part,  the  Westminster  Confession  was  a 
satisfactory  statement  of  their  own  doctrinal  positions,  and 
wherein  they  differed,  the  phravse  "for  the  substance  thereof" 
assisted  their  consciences,  as  it  helped  the  conscience  of  many 
of  their  descendants  in  subsequent  years. 

(2)       THE   REFORMING   RY^'OD   OF    1679-80 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Cambridge  Synod,  so  of  the  reform- 
ing Synod  at  Boston,  the  churches  were  called  together  to 
consider  practical  matters  of  administration  and  discipline, 
and  came  to  their  doctrinal  confession  at  a  subsequent  session. 

The  Reforming  Synod  Avas  called  by  the  General  Court, 
and  met  in  Boston,  September  10,  1679.  Tavo  questions  were 
discussed,  "1.  What  are  the  evils  that  have  provoked  the 
Lord  to  bring  his  judgments  on  New  England?  2.  What  is 
to  be  done  so  that  these  evils  may  be  reforaied  ? ' ' 

This  Synod  having  disposed  of  the  main  questions  which 
brought  the  churches  together,  approved  the  Cambridge  Plat- 
form, which  it  had  been  proposed  to  amend,  still  using  the 
convenient  and  altogether  proper  qualifying  phrase  "for  the 
substance  of  it." 

The  second  session  was  held  definitely  to  consider  a  con- 
fession of  faith  ;  and  again,  as  before,  it  Avas  rather  expected 
that  the  Ncav  England  divines  Avould  produce  a  creed  of  their 
own;  for  NeAv  England  had  no  general  confession,  having  in 
1648  adopted  Avithout  A-ery  much  consideration  the  doctrinal 
parts  of  the  Westminster  Confession,  in  a  Avay  that  bound  no 


122    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

one  very  closely  to  adhere  to  it.  But  as  in  the  earlier  Synod, 
an  easier  method  presented  itself  than  that  of  preparing  a  new 
confession.  The  Savoy  Declaration  of  1658  had  been  adopted 
m  England  and  forthwith  became  the  recognized  expression 
of  the  general  faith  of  Congregationalism.  Rev.  Urian 
Oakes  and  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  who  were  appointed  on  the 
Creed  Committee  of  the  Reforming  Synod,  had  both  been  in 
England  during  the  meeting  at  the  Savoy,  and  they  followed 
the  example  of  the  earlier  Synod  of  proposing  an  endorsement 
of  the  Savoy  Declaration  instead  of  undertaking  a  new  con- 
fession. The  reason  was  that  the  Puritans  in  America  wished 
as  much  as  possible  to  express  their  faith  in  the  same  terms 
as  those  employed  by  their  brethren  in  England.  The  English 
Puritans  were  inclined  to  be  suspicious  of  the  orthodoxy  of 
their  American  brethren,  and  the  easiest  way  to  show  them 
that  the  Americans  Avere  sound  in  the  faith  was  to  adopt  their 
own  confession  ' '  for  the  substance  thereof. ' ' 

* '  The  Preface  declares  that  the  Savoy  Confession,  slightly 
modified,  Svas  tAvice  publickly  read,  examined  and  approved 
of.'  by  the  Synod;  and  that  as  at  Cambridge  in  1648,  a  desire 
to  avoid  any  imputation  of  heresy  from  the  Puritan  party  in 
England  led  the  Synod  to  prefer  the  formulae  of  Avell-known 
English  assemblies  to  an  expression  of  faith  in  its  own  lan- 
guage. The  fact  Avas,  that  however  individual  New  England 
might  be  in  church  polity,  no  doctrinal  peculiarities  had  as 
yet  developed  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  No  doctrinal  dis- 
cussions of  consequences  had  taken  place.  The  Ncav  England 
Churches  still  stood,  as  a  body,  with  uncriticizing  loyalty  on 
the  basis  of  the  Puritan  theology  of  England  as  it  had  been 
in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century." — Walker: 
Creeds  and  Platforms,  p.  421. 

The  Confessions  of  1648  and  1680  sensed  the  New  Eng- 
land churches  rather  as  substitutes  for  a  confession  of  faith 
than  as  an  adequate  expression  thereof.  The  Ncav  England 
churches  felt  no  great  need  of  such  confessions,  but  did  feel 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  123 

the  need  of  a  sympathetic  bond  of  union  with  their  brethren 
in  England  and  Scotland.  Increasingly  the  inadequacy  of 
such  symbols  was  felt;  but  when  in  1865  the  Burial  Hill 
Declaration  was  adopted,  there  wqvq  those  who  protested 
against  its  irreverence  in  having  added  anything  to  confessions 
80  venerable.  Prof.  Edward  A.  Lawrence,  of  Connecticut, 
contributed  to  the  Congregational  Quarterly  for  April,  1866, 
an  extended  article  denouncing  "The  revolutionary  movement. 
hurriedly  started  on  the  way  to  Plymouth,  and  carried  out 
among  the  tombs  of  the  fathers  in  such  a  tumult,  almost  tem- 
pest, of  ecclesiastical  passion."  He  counted  it  "a  marvel  if 
the  bones  of  the  ancient  dead  were  not  disquieted  in  their 
graves,"  and  wondered  "that  the  spirits  of  our  godly  sires 
did  not  rise  and  rebuke  their  irreverent  sons."  That  the 
reference  to  Calvinism  in  the  Committee's  earlier  I'eport 
should  have  been  juggled  out  of  the  confession  "in  the  midst 
of  such  serio-comic  transactions"  and  a  new  confession 
adopted  as  a  kind  of  incident  in  an  excursion,  seemed  to  him 
a  horrible  desecration,  and  led  him  to  recall  the  original  cir- 
cumstances of  the  approval  of  the  Westminster  Confession  in 
1648,  and  of  that  of  Savoy  in  1680.  He  did  tliis  with  such 
accuracy  of  scholarship  and  such  sympathy  with  the  result 
that  we  gladly  preserve  here  his  excellent  account  of  those  two 
Confessions  as  they  formulated  in  England  and  approved  in 
New  England. 

He  admitted  that  for  something  like  100  years  New  Eng- 
land had  paid  very  little  attention  to  the.se  two  venerable  con- 
fessions, but  believed  that  the  Council  of  1865  by  its  irreverent 
reference  to  these  confessions  in  the  Burial  Hill  declaration 
would  serve  to  ' '  rake  them  from  the  ashes  of  the  past  and  re- 
place them  on  the  shelves  of  our  honored  and  increasing  theo- 
logical literature."  That  has  not  been  precisely  the  result  of 
the  action  of  1865,  but  Dr.  Lawrence's  article  has  historical 
value.    Referring  to  these  two  confessions  he  said : 


124    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

''In  strictness  of  speech,  neither  of  these  confessions  was 
'set  forth'  by  either  of  the  synods  referred  to.  The  Synod 
of  1648  simply  gave  their  assent  to,  or  reaffirmed,  the  doctrinal 
part  of  the  Westminster  confession.  'This  synod,  having 
perused  and  considered  (with  much  gladness  of  heart  and 
thankfulness  to  God)  the  confession  of  faith  published  by  the 
late  reverend  Assembly  in  England,  do  judge  it  to  be  very 
holy,  orthodox,  and  judicious  in  all  matters  of  faith,  and  do 
therefore  freely  and  fully  consent  thereunto,  for  the  substance 
thereof.  Only,  in  those  things  which  have  respect  to  chuich 
government  and  discipline,  we  do  refer  ourselves'  to  the  plat- 
form of  discipline  agreed  upon  by  this  present  assembly,  and 
we  do  therefore  think  it  meet  that  this  confession  of  faith 
should  be  commended  to  the  churches  of  Christ  among  us,  and 
to  the  learned  court,  as  worthy  of  their  due  consideration  and 
acceptance.'  " — Mather's  Magnalia,  ii.  155. 

This  confession — the  joint  production  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly  of  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists — is  a  strict- 
ly Presbyterian  symbol.  It  is  the  accredited  standard  of  theol- 
ogy and  ecclesiastical  law  in  both  of  the  great  branches  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States.  The  Congre- 
gationalists in  the  Assembly  were  able  debaters  and  strong 
men ;  but  they  were  largely  outnumbered  by  the  Presbyterians, 
who  were  also  some  of  them  very  strong  men.  They  agreed  on 
a  statement  of  doctrine,  to  which  all  subscribed,  but  to  the 
polity  of  the  body  the  Congregationalists  gave  no  assent; 
neither  did  the  Parliament  of  England,  nor  the  people. 

"During  the  Commonwealth,  the  Congregational  church- 
es increased  rapidly  in  number  and  importance.  A  little  be- 
fore the  Protector's  death,  they  petitioned  him  for  liberty  to 
call  a  synod,  in  order  to  prepare  and  set  forth  a  Congrega- 
tional Confession  of  Faith.  Some  of  the  court  opposed  it. 
But  Cromwell  said  it  should  be  granted ;  'they  must  be  satis- 
fied,' and  gave  consent.  On  the  12th  of  October,  1658,  the 
eldere  and  messengers  from  a  hundred  and  twenty  churches 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  125 

assembled  at  the  Savoy,  the  old  ecclesiastical  head-quarters,  in 
the  city  of  London, — the  former  assembly  being  held  at  the 
chapel  of  Henry  VII.,  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city 
of  Westminster.  They  opened  the  synod  with  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer.  After  debating  awhile  whether  they  should  adopt 
the  doctrinal  articles  of  the  Westminster  Assembly,  or  draw 
up  a  new  declaration,  they  decided  to  do  neither  exactly,  but 
to  modify  and  amend  the  fomier,  keeping  as  near  to  the 
methods  and  spirit  of  it  as  possible.  The  committee  appointed 
to  the  work  were  Drs.  Goodwin  and  Owen,  and  Messrs.  Nye, 
Bridge,  Caryl,  and  Greenhill.  The  assembly  were  in  session 
eleven  working,  and  two  or  three  worshiping  days.  Their  ob- 
ject was  harmoniously  and  happily  accomplished,  and  set 
forth  as  *  A  Declaration  of  Faith  and  Order,  avowed  and  prac- 
ticed in  the  Congregational  Churches  in  England. ' 

' '  Here  now  a  Congregational  Confession,  the  first  general 
one  since  the  Apostles'  creed,  gradually  sprang  up  in  the  days 
of  primiti\'e  Congregationalism.  And,  one  has  only  to  exam- 
ine it  attentively,  to  see  that  it  is  in  the  true  apostolic  succes- 
sion of  creeds,  by  a  living  chain  from  that  early  one,  down 
through  the  Nicene,  Chalcedo-Athanasian  and  the  great  Prot- 
estant utterances.  It  is  in  substantial  agreement  with  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  the  admirable  doctrinal  standard  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  and  in  nearly  circumstantial  accord  with 
that  of  the  Presbyterians. 

"Some  doubted,  as  we  have  said,  the  wisdom  of  any  action 
upon  this  subject  by  the  Council.  Our  Congregational  fathers 
at  the  Savoy  placed  their  declaration  on  the  ground  of  a  pri- 
mary duty.  'The  confession  of  the  faith  that  Ls  in  us,'  say 
they,  'when  justly  called  for,  is  so  indispensable  a  due  all  owe 
to  the  glory  of  the  sovereign  God,  that  it  is  ranked  among  the 
duties  of  the  first  commandment.' — Hanhiiry's  Memorials,  ill. 
417.  And  for  want  of  such  a  confession,  they  say,  "the  gen- 
erality of  churches  have  been,  in  a  manner,  like  vso  many  ships, 
though  holding  forth  the  same  general  colors,  launched  singly, 


126    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

dnd  sailing  apart  and  alone  in  the  vast  ocean  of  these  tumult- 
uous times,  and  have  been  exposed  tO;  eveiy  wind  of  doctrine, 
under  no  other  conduct  than  the  Word  and  Spirit.' — H an- 
bury's Memorials,  iii.  523. 

*'By  way  of  explaining  their  divergencies  from  the  West- 
minster Confession,  '  A  few  things, '  they  say,  '  we  have  added 
for  obviating  some  erroneous  opinions  that  have  been  more 
broadly  and  boldly  here  of  late  maintained  by  the  asserters, 
than  in  former  times ;  and  have  made  other  additions  and  al- 
terations in  method  here  and  there,  and  some  clearer  explana- 
tions as  we  found  occasion.'  They  substitute  for  the  list  of 
books  of  the  Bible,  given  in  the  WestmiiLster,  simply  the  num- 
ber, 'sixty-six.'  In  the  sixth  chapter,  on  the  Fall  of  Man, 
they  introduce  the  covenant  of  works  and  of  life,  which  is  not 
in  the  Westminster;  and  where  the  Westminster  says,  'Uiey 
fell,'  the  Savoy  has  it,  'they,  and  we  in  them,  fell.'  It  omits 
the  fourth  section  of  the  twentieth  chapter,  on  disturbers  of 
the  peace  of  the  church ;  the  latter  part  of  the  twenty-fourth, 
on  Marriage  and  Divorce;  the  thirtieth,  on  Church  Censures, 
and  the  thirty-first,  on  Synods  and  Councils.  They  added  an 
entire  chapter  on  the  Gospel,  following  that  on  the  Law,  but 
which  was  made  up  of  principles  scattered  through  the  Con- 
fessions. Some  doctrines  are  shaded  differently.  The  West- 
minster fathers  say,  'They' — our  first  parents — 'being  the  root 
of  all  mankind  ; '  the  Savoy  are  more  full, — '  They  being  the 
root,  and,  by  God's  appointment,  standing  in  the  room  and 
stead  of  all  mankind.'  The  former  say,  'The  same  death  in 
sin  and  corrupted  nature  are  conveyed,  '■ — the  latter,  '  the  guilt 
of  the  first  sin  was  imputed,  and  the  corrupted  nature  con- 
veyed to  all  their  posterity.'  The  chapters  on  the  church  are 
not  in  entire  agreement.  The  Westminister  defines  the  visible 
church  as  'consisting  of  all  those  throughout  the  world  that 
profess  the  true  religion,  together  with  their  children.'  The 
children  of  believers  are  not  included  in  the  Savoy  definition, 
though  they  are  to  be  baptized.    In  the  former,    'the  ministry, 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  127 

oracles,  and  ordinances  of  God'  are  given  to  the  catholic 
church  as  an  identical  organism,  with  no  restrictions  to  the 
churches,  in  respect  to  government.  By  the  latter  the  church 
can  not  be  'intrusted  with  the  administration  of  any  ordi- 
nances, or  have  any  officers  to  rule  or  govern  in  or  over  the 
whole  body.'  The  one  cuts  up  the  old  root  of  the  Papacy, 
Prelacy,  and  all  hierarchies.  The  other  leaves  it  to  shoot  up 
in  Presbyteries,  Synods,  and  the  govermnent  of  a  General 
Assembly. 

"These  are  the  chief  differences  in  the  doctrinal  positions 
of  these  two  symbols. 

' '  The  Congregational  Churches  of  England  had  now  their 
Confession  and  the  Presbyterians  had  theirs.  But  the  church- 
es of  New  England  were  in  the  use  of  the  Presbyterian,  and 
not  the  Congregational,  as  their  standard.  Thus  they  stood 
for  thirty  years.  At  the  Synod  of  1662,  nothing  was  proposed 
relating  to  a  Declaration  of  Faith,  and  little  was  done,  except 
to  plant  the  seeds  of  the  disastrous  half-way  covenant.  Eigh- 
teen years  later,  when  the  Synod  of  1679  came  to  its  second 
session  in  May,  1680,  a  Confession  was  the  chief  business.  Here 
the  same  questions  met  the  Provincial  Synod  and  the  National 
Council.  Two  Confessions  were  before  them, — one  Presby- 
terian, the  other  Congregational.  Should  they  make  a  new 
one?  And  if  so,  should  it  be  a  long  or  a  short  one? — according 
to  the  recent  speculations  in  philosophy,  or  without  any 
specifi-c  philosophy?  Or  if  they  should  adopt  one  of  the  old 
symbols,  which?  or,  should  they  reaffirm  them  both?  The 
Fathers  of  1648  had  declared  the  Westminster  Confession 
'very  holy,  orthodox,  and  judicious.'  But  those  of  1680  took 
up  the  Savoy  Declaration,  and  examined  it  very  carefully.  It 
was  twice  publicly  read  in  the  synod.  Some  slight  changes 
were  made,  such  as  restoring  the  list  of  the  books  of  the  Bible, 
and  including  the  children  of  believers  in  the  definition  of  the 
church.  Then  it  was  adopted  by  the  synod,  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  and  the  churches  of  the  New  England  col- 


128    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

onies  generally.  Thus  the  Congregational  churches  of  Eng- 
land and  of  New  England  not  only  held  the  same  faith,  but 
also  the  same  *  Declaration  of  Faith. '  ' ' 

(3)   THE  SAYBROOK  PLATFORM  OF  1708 

A  low  state  of  religion  prevailed  in  New  England  at  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Of  the  condition  prevalent, 
Prof.  Walker  has  written: 

THE  PROPOSALS  OF  1705 

"Though  the  Reforming  Synod  doubtless  has  some  effect 
in  bettering  the  religious  condition  of  New  England,  the  re- 
sults were  not  what  its  promoters  had  hoped.  The  closing 
years  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  times  of  trial  for  New 
England ;  the  loss  of  the  Massachusetts  charter,  the  tyranny  of 
Andros,  the  vain  efforts  to  secure  a  renewal  of  the  ancient 
privileges  of  the  leading  colony,  as  well  as  the  disastrous  out- 
come of  the  two  attempts  to  capture  Quebec,  and  the  demoraliz- 
ing struggles  with  the  Indians,  together  Avith  the  grim  tragedy 
of  the  witchcraft  delusion,  all  combined  to  make  the  political 
and  commercial  outlook  of  the  colonies  gloomy  and  to  render 
a  high  degree  of  spiritual  life  difficult  of  maintenance  in  the 
churches.  If  the  second  generation  on  New  England  soil  had 
shown  a  decided  declension  from  the  fervent  zeal  of  the  found- 
ers, the  third  generation  was  even  less  moved  by  the  early 
ideals.  The  founders  had  borne  part  in  a  movement  which 
had  embraced  a  nation.  They  had  been  the  leaders  in  an  at- 
tempt to  establish  in  a  new  England  the  principles  of  worship 
and  church-government  which  were  believed  in  and  struggled 
for  by  a  great  party  at  home.  For  a  time,  the  rulers  of  Eng- 
land had  looked  with  favor  on  their  enterprise  and  had  sought 
council  of  their  experience.  But  all  this  was  changed.  New 
England  was  no  longer  the  vanguard  of  the  great  Puritan  cause 
of  the  mother-land.  That  party  in  England  had  spent  its  force. 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  129 

New  England  had  become  of  necessity  i)i'ovincial,  when  the 
triumph  of  Episcoi)acy  in  old  England  had  made  her  cease 
to  be  a  factcH'  of  consequence  in  the  religious  life  of  that  land, 
for  the  bond  between  the  home  land  and  the  new  settlements 
across  the  sea  had  been  religious  far  more  than  political  or 
commercial.  And  in  the  struggles  and  disasters  of  the  latter 
haJf  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  New  Englander  had  be- 
come narrower  in  thought  and  in  sympathy  than  his  father 
had  been.  If  he  had  grown  more  tolerant  toward  variations 
in  religion,  it  was  the  result  of  increasing  religious  indifferent- 
ism,  itself  the  natural  consequence  of  reaction  from  the  high- 
wrought  experiences  of  the  first  generation.  It  was  with 
pathetic,  almost  exaggerated,  consciousness  of  their  own  com- 
parative feebleness  that  the  ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  second 
and  third  generations  looked  back  to  the  giants  of  the  early 
days;  for  the  New  England  of  1700  was  meaner,  narrower,  in 
every  way  less  inspired  with  the  sense  of  a  mission  to  accom- 
plish and  an  ideal  to  uphold,  than  the  New  England  of  1650. 

"To  the  majority  of  the  ministers  of  the  time  the  outlook 
seemed  full  of  peril.  The  recent  political  changes,  and  even 
more  the  passing  away  of  the  older  generation,  had  greatly 
lessened  the  influence  of  the  ministry  on  legislation  and  the 
conduct  of  government.  The  restiveness  which  had  all  along 
been  more  or  less  felt  under  the  rule  of  the  clerical  element 
had  gathered  strength.  In  Boston  foreign  influence  had  es- 
tablished Episcopacy,  and  though  Episcopacy  was  distinctly 
an  exotic  on  Massachusetts  soil,  there  were  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  persons  throughout  the  churches  who  desired  more  or 
less  modification  of  the  prevalent  strictness  in  regard  to  ad- 
missions and  of  the  almost  universal  restriction  of  the  choice 
of  ministers  to  members  in  full  communion.  These  two  ten- 
dencies were  brought  most  sharply  into  contrast  at  Boston, 
then,  as  now,  the  intellectual  center  of  the  commonwealth. 

"While  the  events  just  considered  wei'e  in  progress  in 
Massachusetts,  a  similiar  movement,  to  some  extent  induced 


130     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

by  the  proceedings  in  the  older  colony,  was  in  progress  in 
Connecticut.  The  Half-Way  controversy  had  resulted  in  1669 
in  the  toleration  of  some  divergence  in  ecclesiastical  usage 
'vntill  better  light  in  an  orderly  way  doth  appeare;'  but  the 
same  differences  of  opinion  w^hich  had  been  shown  in  the  ques- 
tions propounded  by  the  General  Court  in  1666  continued,  and 
the  low  state  of  religion  which  marked  the  closing  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century  led  to  much  discipline  and  not  a  little 
quarrel  in  the  chui'ches.  The  feeling  was  widespread  through- 
out the  colony,  and  the  adjacent  parts  of  Massachusetts,  that 
some  strengthening  of  church-government  was  desirable,  for 
the  same  reasons  that  it  was  sought  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 
''The  movement  which  led  to  the  Saybrook  Synod  in 
Connecticul  ran  parallel  to  and  was  in  considerable  degree 
conducted  by  men  who  were  engaged  in  founding  Yale  College, 
and  these  men  were  in  turn  afHliated  in  some  measure  with 
those  in  eastern  Massachusetts  who  were  seeking  a  stricter 
church  government.  The  connection  between  the  founding  of 
Yale  College  and  the  party  about  Boston  who  were  opposed  to 
the  liberalizing  of  Harvard  and  the  rejection  of  the  influence 
of  the  Mathers  has  been  pressecL  too  far  by  President  Quincy, 
and  it  has  been  clearly  shown  that  the  desire  of  the  ministers 
of  Connecticut,  long  cherished  especiall.v  in  the  coast  towns  of 
the  old  New  Haven  colony,  that  they  might  have  '  a  nearer  and 
less  expensive  seat  of  learning, '  amply  accounts  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Connecticut  college.  It  had  its  birth  indepen- 
dently of  Boston  ecclesiastical  quarrels.  But  while  thus  moved 
by  Connecticut  rather  than  Massachusetts  interests,  the  men 
who  founded  Yale  College  in  1701  were  in  active  sympathy 
with  the  conservative  party  in  Boston.  .  .  . 

' '  The  attempts  of  the  ecclesiastical  leaders  of  Massachusetts 
to  establish  standing  councils  had  borne  fruit  in  1705  and 
1706,  and  cannot  have  been  unfamiliar  to  their  friends  in 
Connecticut.  The  thought  of  the  ministers  of  Connecticut 
turned  toward  something  more  than  the  approval  of  a  con- 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1080  131 

fession  of  faith,  they  would  now  couple  with  it  the  establish- 
ment of  a  system  of  stricter  government  like  that  attempted  in 
Massachusetts.  And,  in  December,  1707,  an  event  well-nigh 
without  a  parallel  in  American  history  occurred;  a  leading 
minister  of  the  colony,  Gurdon  Saltonstall  of  New  London, 
was  called  directly  from  the  pulpit  to  the  governor's  chair, — 
a  post  wliich  he  continued  to  fill  till  his  death  in  1724.  Sal- 
tonstall had  experienced  in  his  own  pastorate  the  evils  of  a 
church  quarrel,  and  on  his  election  to  the  governorship  it 
would  appear  that  the  movement  for  stricter  government  went 
more  rapidly  forward.  Sometime  between  May  13  and  22, 
1708,  the  following  bill  was  introduced  into  and  passed  the 
upper  House,  of  which  the  governor  was  then  a  member.  In 
its  original  form  it  called,  apparently,  only  for  assemblages  of 
ministers ;  but  somewhere  in  its  passage,  either  in  the  upper 
House,  or  more  probably  among  the  representatives  of  the 
towns  who  passed  it  on  May  24th,  the  statute  was  amended 
so  as  to  summon  the  brethren  of  the  churches  as  well  as  their 
pastors,  and  thus  render  the  bodies  for  which  it  called  truly 
synods: 

This  Assembly,  from  their  own  observation  and  from  the  com- 
plaint of  many  others,  being  made  sensible  of  the  defects  of  the 
discipline  of  the  churches  of  this  government,  arising  from  the 
want  of  a  more  explicite  asserting  the  rules  given  for  that  end  in 
the  holy  scriptures,  from  which  would  arise  a  firm  establishment 
amongst  ourselves,  a  good  and  regular  issue  in  cases  subject  to 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  glory  to  Christ  our  head,  and  edification 
to  his  members,  hath  seen  fit  to  ordein  and  require,  and  it  is  by 
authoritie  of  the  same  ordeined  and  required,  that  the  ministers 
of  the  churches  in  the  several  counties  of  this  government  shall 
meet  together  at  their  respective  countie  towns,  with  such  messen- 
gers as  the  churches  to  which  they  belong  shall  see  cause  to  send 
with  them  on  the  last  IMonday  in  June  next,  there  to  consider  and 
agree  upon  those  methods  and  rules  for  the  management  of  ecclesas- 
tical  discipline  which  by  them  shall  be  judged  agreeable  and  com- 
formable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  shall  at  the  same  meeting  appoint 
two  or  more  of  their  number  to  be  their  delegates,  who  shall  all  meet 
together  at  Saybrook,  at  the  next  Commencement  to  be  held  there, 
when  they  shall  compare  the  results  of  the  ministers  of  the  several 
counties,  and  out  of  and  from  them  to  draw  a  form  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline  which  by  two  or  more  persons  delegated  by  them  shall 


132     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

be  offered  to  this  Court  at  their  sessions  at  New  haven  in  October 
next,  to  be  considered  of  and  confirmed  by  them,  and  that  the  ex- 
pence  of  the  above,  mentioned  meetings  be  defrayed  out  of  the  pub- 
lick  treasury  of  this  Colonie. 

''Pursuant  to  this  order,  the  representatives  of  the 
churches  of  each  county  met,  though  no  records  of  their  doings 
have  survived.  By  these  councils,  ministers  and  delegates 
were  chosen  to  be  present  at  the  anniversary  of  the  infant 
college,  and  naturally  convenience,  together  with  the  promi- 
nence of  the  men  involved,  brought  it  about  that  eight  of  the 
twelve  ministers  thus  selected  to  represent  the  Connecticut 
churches  were  trustees  of  the  college.  The  ministerial  element 
was  in  the  decided  predominance.  The  messengers  from  New 
London  County  to  the  Saybrook  Synod  were  two,  while  Hart- 
ford and  Fairfield  Counties  sent  one  each,  and  New  Haven 
was  represented  by  no  laymen.  Doubtless  other  brethren  were 
appointed  who  did  not  appear  at  the  meeting.  But  there  is 
no  reason  to  hold  that  the  body  which  gathered  at  Saybrook 
Sept.  9,  1708,  was  not  fairly  able  to  voice  the  sentiments  of  the 
Connecticut  churches  as  a  whole." — Creeds  and  Platforms, 
465-500,  passim. 

This  Synod,  assembled  for  consideration  of  practical 
questions  of  reform,  and  the  conservation  of  the  spiritual  her- 
itage of  the  Colony,  approved  the  confessions  of  Westminster 
and  Savoy,  as  the  Massachusetts  synods  had  done,  but  pre- 
faced this  finding  with  a  notable  deliverance  concerning, 
among  other  things,  the  authority  of  human  creeds.  It  is 
contained,  together  with  the  text  of  the  Savoy  Declaration,  in 
Walker's  Creeds  and  Platforms,  pp.  517  seq: 

A  confession  of  faith  owned  and  consented  to  by  the  elders  and 
messengers  of  the  churches  in  the  colony  of  Connecticut  in  New- 
England,  assembled  by  delegation  at  Say-Brook,  September  9th, 
1708— Eph.  4:  5.  One  faith— Col.  2:  5.  Joying  and  beholding  your 
Order  and  the  steadfastness  of  your  faith  in  Christ. — New-London 
in  N.  E.    Printed  by  Thomas  Short,  1710. 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  1S3 

A  PREFACE 

Among  the  Memorable  Providences  relating  to  our  English 
Nation  in  the  last  Century,  must  be  acknowledged  the  selling  of 
English  Colonies  in  the  American  parts  of  the  World;  Among  all 
which  this  hath  been  Peculiar  unto  and  to  the  distinguishing  Glory 
of  that  Tract  called  New-England,  that  the  Colonies  there  weie 
Originally  formed,  not  for  the  advantage  of  Trade  and  a  Worldly 
Interest:  But  upon  the  most  noble  Foundation,  even  of  Religion, 
and  the  Liberty  of  their  Consciences,  with  respect  unto  the  Ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel  Administred  in  the  Purity  and  Power  of  them ; 
an  happiness  then  not  to  be  enjoyed  in  their  Native  Soil. 

We  joyfully  Congratulate  the  Religious  Liberty  of  our  Brethren 
in  the  late  Auspicious  Reign  of  K.  William,  and  Q.  Mary,  of  Blessed 
Memory,  &  in  the  present  Glorious  Reign,  and  from  the  bottom  of 
our  Hearts  bless  the  Lord  whose  Prerogative  it  is  to  reserve  the 
Times  and  Seasons  in  his  own  hand,  who  also  hath  Inspired  the 
Pious  Mind  of  Her  most  Sacred  Majesty,  [Queen  Anne]  whose  Reign 
we  constantly  and  unfeignedly  Pray,  may  be  long  and  Glorious,  with 
Royal  Resolutions,  Inviolably  to  maintain  the  Toleration. 

Deus  enim  -  -  haec  Otia  fecit. 

Undoubtedly  if  the  same  had  been  the  Liberty  of  those  Times, 
our  Fathers  would  have  been  far  from  Exchanging  a  most  pleasant 
Land  (dulce  solum  patriaa)  for  a  vast  and  howling  Wilderness; 
Since  for  the  enjoyment  of  so  desirable  Liberty  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  Learned,  Worthy  and  Pious  Persons  were  by  a  Divine  Ira- 
pulse  and  Extraordinary  concurrence  of  Dispositions  engaged  to 
adventure  their  Lives  Families  and  Estates  upon  the  vast  Ocean 
following  the  Lord  into  a  Wilderness,  a  Land  then  not  sown: 
Wherein  Innumerable  difRculties  staring  them  in  the  Face  were  out- 
bid by  Heroick  Resolution,  Magnanimity  &  confidence  in  the  Lord 
alone.  Our  Fathers  trusted  in  the  Lord  and  were  delivered,  they 
trusted  in  him  and  were  not  confounded.  It  was  their  care  to  be 
with  the  Lord,  and  their  indulgence,  that  the  Lord  was  with  them,  to 
a  Wonder  preserving  supporting  protecting  and  animating  them;  dis- 
patching and  destroying  the  Pagan  Natives  by  extraordinary  Sick- 
ness and  Mortality  ,t!hat  there  might  be  room  for  his  People  to 
serve  the  Lord  our  God  in.  It  was  the  Glory  of  our  Fathers,  that 
they  heartily  professed  the  only  Rule  of  their  Religion  from  the 
very  first  to  be  the  Holy  Scripture,  according  whereunto,  so  far  as 
they  were  perswaded  upon  diligent  Inquiry,  Solicitous  search,  and 
faithful  Prayer  conformed  was  their  Faith,  their  Worship  together 
with  the  whole  Administration  of  the  House  of  Christ,  and  their 
manners,  allowance  being  given  to  humane  Failures  and  Imper- 
fections. 

That  which  they  were  most  Solicitous  about,  and  wherein  their 
Liberty  had  been  restrained,  respected  the  "Worship  of  God  and  the 
Government  of  the  Church  of  Christ  according  to  his  own  appoint- 
ment, their  Faith  and  Profession  of  Religion  being  the  same,  which 
was  generally  received  in  all  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Europe, 
and  in  Substance  the  Assemblies  Confession,  as  shall  be  shown  anon. 


134     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  Usage  of  the  Christian  Church 
whose  Faith  wholly  rested  upon  the  word  of  God  respecting  Con- 
fessions of  Faith  is  very  Ancient  and  that  which  is  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  most  so,  and  of  Universal  acceptance  and  con- 
sent is  commonly  called  the  Apostles  Creed,  a  Symbol  sign  or 
Badge  of  the  Christian  Religion,  called  the  Apostles,  not  because 
they  composed  it,  for  then  it  must  have  been  received  into  the 
Canon  of  the  Holy  Bible,  but  because  the  matter  of  it  agreeth 
with  the  Doctrine  &  is  taken  out  of  the  Writings  of  the  Apos- 
tles. Consequent  hereunto,  as  the  necessity  of  the  Church  for 
the  Correcting  Condemning  &  Suppressing  of  Heresy  &  Error 
required,  have  been  emitted  Ancient  and  Famous  Confessions 
of  Faith  composed  and  agreed  upon  by  Oecumenical  Coun- 
cils, e.  g.  Of  Nice  against  Arrius,  of  Constantinople  against 
Macedonius,  of  Ephesu  against  Nestorius,  of  Chalcedon  against 
Eutyches.  And  when  the  Light  of  Reformation  broke  forth  to  the 
dispersing  of  Popish  darkness,  the  Reformed  Nations  agreed  upon 
Confessions  of  Faith,  famous  in  the  AVorld  and  of  especial  service 
to  theirs  and  standing  Ages.  And  among  those  of  latter  times  Pub- 
lished in  our  Nation  most  worthy  of  Repute  and  Acceptance  we  take 
to  be  the  Confession  of  Faith,  Composed  by  tlie  Reverend  Assembly 
of  Divines  Convened  at  Westminister,  with  that  of  the  Savoy,  in 
the  substance  and  in  expressions  for  the  most  part  the  same:  the 
former  professedly  assented  &  attested  to,  by  the  Fathers  of 
our  Country  by  Unanimous  Vote  of  the  Synod  of  Elders  and  Mes- 
sengers of  the  Churches  met  at  Cambridge  the  last  of  the  6th  Month 
1648.  The  latter  owned  and  consented  to  by  the  Elders  and  Mes- 
sengers of  the  Churches  Assembled  at  Boston,  May  12th,  1680.  The 
same  we  doubt  not  to  profess  to  have  been  the  contant  Faith  of  the 
Churches  in  this  Colony  from  the  first  Foundation  of  them.  And 
that  it  may  appear  to  the  Christian  World,  that  our  Churches  do 
not  maintain  differing  Opinions  in  the  Doctrine  of  Religion,  nor 
are  desirous  of  any  reason  to  conceal  the  Faith  we  are  perswaded 
of:  The  Elders  and  Messengers  of  the  Churches  in  this  Colony  of 
Connecticut  in  New  England,  by  vertue  of  the  Appointment  and 
Encouragement  of  the  Honourable  the  General  Assembly,  Convened 
by  Delegation  at  Say  Brook,  Sept.  9th,  1708.  Unanimously  agreed, 
that  the  Confession  of  Faith  owned  and  Consented  unto  by  the  Elders 
and  Messengers  of  the  Churches  Assembled  at  Boston  in  New- 
England  May  12th.  1680.  Being  the  second  Session  of  that  Synod, 
be  Recommended  to  the  Honourable  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
Colony  at  their  next  Session,  for  their  Publick  Testimony  thereto, 
as  the  Faith  of  the  Churches  of  this  Colony,  which  Confession  to- 
gether with  the  Heads  of  Union  and  Articles  for  the  Administration 
of  Church  Government  herewith  emitted  were  Presented  unto  and 
approved  and  established  by  the  said  General  Assembly  at  New- 
Haven  on  the  14th  of  October  1708. 

This  Confession  of  Faith  we  offer  as  our  firm  Perswasion  well 
and  fully  grounded  upon  the,  Holy  Scripture,  and  Commend  the 
same  unto  all  and  particularly  to  the  people  of  our  Colony  to  be 
examined  accepted  and  constantly  maintained.     We  do  not  assume 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  135 

to  oursclvesTthat  any  thing  be  taken  upon  trust  from  us,  but  com- 
meaid  to  our  people  these  following  Counsels. 

I.  That  You  be  immovably  and  unchangeably  agreed  in  the 
only  sufficient,  and  invariable  Rule  of  Religion,  which  is  the  Holy 
Scripture  the  fixed  Canon,  uncapable  of  addition  or  diminution.  You 
ought  to  account  nothing  ancient,  that  will  not  stand  by  this  Rule, 
nor  any  thing  new  that  will.  Do  not  hold  your  selves  bound  to 
Unscriptural  Rites  in  Religion,  wherein  Custom  itself  doth  many 
times  misguid.  Believe  it  to  be  the  honour  of  Religion  to  resign 
and  captivate  our  Wisdom  and  Faith  to  Divine  Revelation. 

II.  That  You  be  determined  by  this  Rule  in  the  whole  of  Re- 
ligion. That  Your  Faith  be  right  and  Divine,  the  Word  of  God 
must  be  the  foundation  of  it,  and  the  Authority  of  the  Word  the 
reason  of  it.  You  may  believe  the  most  Important  Articles  of  Faith, 
with  no  more  than  an  Humane  Faith;  And  this  is  evermore  the 
cause,  when  the,  Principle  Faith  is  resolved  into,  is  any  other  than 
the  holy  Scripture.  For  an  Orthodox  Christian  to  resolve  his  Faith, 
into  Education  Instruction  and  the  perswasion  of  others  is  not  an 
higher  reason,  than  a  Papist,  Mohametan,  or  Pagan  can  produce  for 
his  Religion. 

Pay  also  unto  God  the  Worship,  that  will  bear  the  Tryal  of  and 
receive  Establishment  by  this  Rule.  Have  always  in  Readiness  a 
Divine  Warrant  for  all  the  Worship  you  Perform  to  God.  Believe 
that  Worship  is  accepted  and  that  only,  which  is  directed  unto,  and 
Commanded,  and  hath  the  promise  of  a  Blessing  from  the  Word  of 
God.  Believe  that  Worship  not  Divinely  Commanded  is  in  vain,  nor 
will  answer  the  Necessities  and  Expectations  of  a  Christian,  and 
is  a  Worshipping,  you  know  not  what.  Believe  in  all  Divine  Wor- 
ship, it  is  not  enough  that  this  or  that  Act  of  Worship  is  not  for- 
bidden in  the  Word  of  God;  If  it  be  not  Commanded,  and  you  per- 
form it,  You  may  fear.  You  will  be  found  Guilty  and  exposed  to 
Divine  Displeasure.  Nadab  and  Abihu  paid  dear  for  Offering  in 
Divine  Worship  that  which  the  Lord  Commanded  them  not.  It  is  an 
honour  done  unto  Christ,  when  you  account  that  only  Decent  Order- 
ly and  Convenient  in  his  House,  which  depends  upon  the  Institution 
and  appointment  of  himself,  who  is  the  only  Head  and  Law-giver  of 
his  Church. 

III.  That  you  be  well  grounded  in  the  firm  Truths  of  Religion. 
We  have  willingly  taken  pains  to  add  the  Holy  Scriptures,  whereon 
every  point  of  Faith  contained  in  this  Confession  doth  depend,  and 
is  born  up  by,  and  commend  the  same  to  your  diligent  perusal,  that 
You  be  established  in  the  truth  and  your  Faith  rest  upon  its  proper 
Basis,  the  Word  of  God.  Follow  the  Example  of  the  Noble  Bereans, 
Search  the  Scriptures,  Grow  in  Grace  and  the  knowledge  of  Christ, 
be  not  Children  in  Understanding,  but  IMen.  Labour  for  a  sound 
confirmed  Knowledge  of  these  Points  in  the  evidence  of  them.  See 
that  they  be  deeply  rooted  in  your  Minds  and  Hearts,  that  so  You 
be  not  an  easie  prey  to  such  as  lie  in  wait  to  deceive.  For  the 
want  hereof  to  be  condoled  is  the  Unhappiness  of  many  ever  learn- 
ing and  never  coming  to  the  knowledge  of,  the  Truth. 

IV.  That  having  applyed  the  Rule  of  Holy  Scripture  to  all  the 
Articles  of  this  Confession,  and  found  the  same  upon  Tryal  the 


136     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Unchangable  and  Eternal  truths  of  God:  You  remember  and  hold 
them  fact  [fast],  Contend  earnestly  for  them  as  the  Faith  once 
delivered  to  the  Saints.  Value  them  as  Your  great  Charter,  the 
Instrument  of  Your  Salvation,  the  Evidence  of  your  not  failing  of 
the  Grace  of  God,  and  receiving  a  Crown  that  fadeth  not  away. 
Maintain  them,  and  every  of  them  all  your  dayes  with  undanted 
Resolution  against  all  opposition,  whatever  the,  event  be,  and  the 
same  transmit  safe  and  pure  to  Posterity:  Having  bought  the 
Truth,  on  no  hand  sell  it.  Believe  the  Truth  will  make  you  free: 
Faithful  is  he  that  hath  promised:  So  shall  none  take  away  your 
Crown. 

Finally,  Do  not  think  it  enough  that  your  Faith  and  Order  be 
according  to  the  Word  of  God,  but  live  accordingly.  It  is  not  enough 
to  believe  well.  You  run  your  selves  into  the  greatest  hazzard  unless 
you  be  careful  to  live  well,  and  that  this  be.  All  your  Life  and 
Conversation  must  be  agreeable  to  the  Rule  of  Gods  Word.  This 
is  the  Rule  of  a  Christian  Conversation  and  Practical  Reformation 
Rest  not  in  the  form  of  Godliness,  denying  the  power  of  it.  Stir 
up  an  holy  Zeal,  Strengthen  the  things  that  remain  that  are  ready 
to  die.  Be  not  carried  away  with  the  Corruptions  Temptations  and 
evil  Examples  of  the  Times,  but  be,  blameless  &  without  Rebuke, 
the  Sons  of  God  in  a  froward  Generation.  They  shall  walk  with 
me  in  white,  for  they  are  worthy. 

Remember  ye  our  Brethren  in  this  Colony;  That  we  are  a  part 
of  that  Body,  for  which  the  Providence  of  God  hath  wrought  Won- 
ders and  are  obliged  by  and  Accountable  for  all  the  Mercies  dis- 
pensed from  the  beginning  of  our  Fathers  settling  this  Country 
until  now.  There  he  spake  with  us,  That  the  practical  piety  and 
serious  Religion  of  our  progenitors  is  exemplary  and  for  our  Imita- 
tion, and  will  reflect  confounding  shame  on  us,  if  we  prove  Degen- 
erate. The  Lord  grant  that  the  noble  design  of  our  Fathers  in 
coming  to  this  Land,  may  not  be  forgotten  by  us,  nor  by  our  Children 
after  us,  even  the  Interest  of  Religion,  which  wei  can  never  Exchange 
for  a  Temporal  Interest  without  the  Fowlest  Degeneracy  and  most 
Inexcusable  Defection.  To  Conclude  the  Solemn  Rebukes  of  Provi- 
dence from  time  to  time  in  a  series  of  Judgments,  and  in  particular, 
the  General  drought  in  the  Summej-  past,  together  with  the  grevious 
Disappointment  of  our  Military  Undertaking,  the  Distresses  Sick- 
ness and  Mortality  of  our  Camp  cannot  successfully  be  Improved 
but  by  a  self  humbling  Consideration  of  our  Ways  and  a  thorough 
Repentance  of  all  that  is  amiss:  So  will  the  God  of  our  Fathers 
be  our  God,  and  he  will  be  a  Wall  of  Fire  round  about  us  and  the 
Glory  in  the  midst  of  us  in  this  present  and  all  succeeding  Genera- 
tions.    AMEN. 

It  was  nearly  two  centuries  before  the  Congregational 
Churches  met  again  in  National  Council  after  the  Reforming 
Synod,  and  during  that  time,  the  Confessions  of  1648  and  1680 
served  as  exponents  of  Congregational  doctrine  "for  the  sub- 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  137 

stance  thereof."     The  important  things  to  be   remembered 
about  them  are, 

1.  That  the  Synods  which  adopted  thoiii  came  torrethor  to 
consider  matters  of  polity  and  discipline,  and  that  the  (lues- 
tions  of  doctrine  which  grew  out  of  thcni  were  sn])oi-(linat(< 
and  incidental. 

2.  That  in  each  case  they  began  witli  some  thought  of 
producing  an  oi'iginal  creed,  and  in  each  case  ended,  and  with- 
out much  discussion,  in  the  adoption  of  one  ready  made. 

3.  That  the  Westminster  and  Savoy  declarations  wei-e 
virtually  identical  as  to  doctrine. 

4.  That  they  were  approved  not  for  form  but  as  to  sub- 
stance, "allowance  being  given  to  human  failures  and  imper- 
fections. ' ' 

During  this  period,  few  of  the  local  churches  had  creeds ; 
their  covenants  sufficed. 

Virtually,  therefore,  until  1865,  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  the  United  States  got  on  very  well  without  any 
home-made  creed  which  could  establish  claim  to  national  ac- 
ceptance. All  this  time,  however,  they  were  developing  a  pol- 
ity of  their  own.  Yet  their  willingness  to  make  ncAv  declara- 
tions of  polity  and  their  unwillingness  to  make  new  declara- 
tions of  faith,  did  not  grow  out  of  any  disregard  of  doctrine 
as  contrasted  with  government;  they  counted  doctrine  the 
more  important.  But  they  regarded  their  doctrine  as  essen- 
tially one  with  that  of  other  Christian  bodies,  and  especially 
one  with  the  great  Puritan  communions.  Congregational  and 
Presbyterian,  in  Great  Britain,  and  wherein  they  differed  they 
could  easily  stretch  a  covering  for  the  difference  in  the  elastic 
phrase  "for  substance  of  doctrine." 

They  wrote  with  considerable  facility  confessions  for 
local  use,  though  seldom  or  never  imposing  them  as  tests  for 
church  membership ;  but  they  shrank  from  the  apparently 
needless  and  somewhat  hazardous  task  of  making  creeds  which 
the  whole  denomination  might  be  supposed  in  some  measure  to 


138    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

endorse.  Down  to  1865  it  was  enough  to  refer  to  the  confes- 
sions of  1648  and  1680  as  containing  the  essential  faith  held  by 
Congregationalists  ' '  for  the  substance  thereof. ' '  Less  and  less 
did  those  confessions  represent  in  their  formal  statement  the 
living  faith  of  the  Congregational  churches.  Fewer  and  fewer 
Congregationalists  remembered  what  were  the  Confessions  of 
1648  and  1680,  but  the  figures  sounded  well,  and  served  their 
purpose.  The  time  was  coming  when  the  Congregational 
churches  would  have  need  of  some  other  formal  statement  of 
their  faith  than  that  contained  in  the  Westminster  Confession 
and  the  Declaration  of  Savoy,  even  though  it  still  was,  and  for 
that  matter  yet  is,  possible  for  a  Congregationalist  to  assent 
to  them,  and  to  any  other  orthodox  creed,  for  the  substance  of 
the  doctrine  which  they  embody. 

Did  any  Cromwellian  accuse  the  New  England  brethren 
of  having  separated  themselves  from  the  faith  and  fortunes 
of  their  Independent  brethren  in  England?  The  ready 
answer  was  their  cheerful  acceptance  of  the  Savoy  Declara- 
tion "for  the  substance  thereof."  Did  any  Scotch  or  English 
Presbyterian  declare  that  Puritanism  in  New  England  was 
schismatic  and  had  departed  from  the  faith  of  the  English 
Puritans?  The  New  England  brethren  had  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  they  accepted  for  substance  of  doctrine  the  "West- 
minister Confession,  and  they  were  heartily  glad  to  say  it, 
to  sing  a  hymn,  and  adjourn.  Nay,  they  went  farther.  If 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  England  called  them  harsh  names 
for  their  departure  from  the  historic  Church,  they  were  quite 
ready  to  affirm  their  general  approval  of  the  Articles  of  Faith 
of  the  Church  of  England. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  neither  the  Confession  of  1648  nor 
that  of  1680  was  intended  to  be  used  as  a  test  of  fitness  for 
church  membership.  No  Congregational  church,  so  far  as 
known,  ever  so  employed  either  of  these  creeds ;  nor  was  there 
a  spirit  w^hich  would  have  sought  so  to  employ  a  confession  of 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OP  1648  AND  1680  139 

faith  until  about  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Unitarian 
controversy. 

One  reason  the  early  Congregationalists  were  averse  to 
the  making  of  creeds  was  that  they  did  not  consider  themselves 
a  sect.  They  knew  that  they  were  not  the  whole  of  the  Cliurch 
of  Christ,  but  they  endeavored  to  organize  their  own  churches 
without  cutting  themselves  off  in  a  spirit  of  isolation  from 
other  branches  of  the  church  of  Christ.  It  is  true  that  in 
those  periods  of  bitter  controversy  some  Separatist  congre- 
gations withdrew  from  the  Church  of  England  with  bitter  de- 
nunciations. Cotton  Mather  refers  to  this  and  contrasts  with 
it  the  tearful  departure  of  the  Puritan  colony,  who  sailed  for 
Salem  in  1629.  Notwithstanding  their  bitter  sufferings  and 
cruel  persecutions,  they  loved  the  Church  of  England.  Mather 
relates  that  Avhcn  the  Abigail,  in  June  1628,  Avas  sailing  for 
Salem,  Mr.  Higginson  called  his  children  and  other  passengers 
to  the  stern  of  the  ship  to  take  their  last  sight  of  England, 
and  said,  'We  wall  not  say,  as  the  Separatists  were  wont  to 
say  at  their  leaving  of  England,  Farewell.  Babylon !  farewell, 
Rome!  but  we  will  say.  Farewell,  dear  England,  farewell,  the 
church  of  God  in  England  and  all  the  Christian  friends  there. 
We  do  not  go  to  New  England  as  Separatists  from  the  Church 
of  England,  though  we  cannot  but  separate  from  the  corrup- 
tions in  it;  but  we  go  to  practice  the  positive  part  of  church 
refoi-mation,  and  propagate  the  Gospel  in  America.'  " 
Whether  or  not  the  incident  occurred  as  narrated,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  expresses  the  sincere  sentiment  of  the  Puritan 
colonists,  towards  the  National  Church  which  with  all  its 
faults  they  loved. 

To  this  same  principle  the  Pilgrims,  though  Separatists, 
were  committed.    Dr.  Bacon  truly  said  : 

"There  was  one  principle  to  which  the  church  of  Plymouth 
stood  committed  by  all  its  antecedents,  to  wit,  that  a  Christian 
church  is  necessarily  a  church  of  Christians,  withdraAm  from 
fellowship  with  the  openly  unbelieving  and  ungodly  and  unit- 


140     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ed  to  each  other  by  a  covenant,  express  or  implied,  of  common 
duty  and  mutual  faithfulness.  Yet  even  this  principle,  by 
which  they  had  justified  their  withdrawal  from  the  "mixed 
multitude'  of  the  English  parish  churches  to  the  conventicle 
at  Scrooby  manor-house,  was  held  by  the  Plymouth  exiles  in 
no  such  bitter  and  exasperated  spirit  as  had  been  manifested 
by  some  of  the  Separatists,  but  in  a  spirit  of  patience,  respect 
and  loving  fellowship,  even  under  extreme  provocation, 
towards  English  fellow-Christians  who  held  both  their  princi- 
ple and  their  action  in  the  severest  reprobation.  The  latest 
words  of  saintly  John  Robinson,  "found  in  his  study  after 
his  decease,"  were  counsels  of  peace  towards  the  unseparated 
brethren  in  the  national  church  of  England.  In  this  touching 
farewell  to  his  departing  flock,  he  spoke  in  the  spirit  of  proph- 
ecy of  a  time  Avhen  unseparated  Puritan  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  England  should  'come  to  the  practice  of  the  ordi- 
nances out  of  the  kingdom'  and  out  of  the  reach  of  the  Act  of 
Uniformity  and  the  bishops'  courts,  and  predicted  that  when 
this  should  be,  'there  will  be  no  difference  between  them  and 
you.' — CongTCgationals,  28,  29. 

Of  the  church  in  Salem,  Dr.  Bacon  -vvi'ote: 

"It  was  far  from  the  thoughts  of  the  Salem  colonists  to 
found  a  sect.  However  mistaken  they  might  be  as  to  the 
criteria  of  Christian  character,  they  had  no  intention  of  ex- 
cluding from  their  fellowship  any  true  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ. 
As  little  did  they  intend  to  permit  any,  in  the  spirit  of  Sepa- 
ratism, to  cut  themselves  off  from  the  common  fellowship  and 
organize  themselves  into  a  scismatic  conventicle." — p.  41. 

Referring  to  subsequent  events  that  led  to  the,  call  of  the 
Cambridge  Synod  of  1646-8,  he  said, — 

"The  colonies  had  to  face  the  fact  that  already  in  1643  a 
painfully  large  proportion  of  the  people  were  standing  out- 
side of  the  church.  In  Massachusetts,  where  the  suffrage  was 
conditioned  on  church  membership,  the  active  citizenship  was 
reduced  to  an  oligarchy  of  about  one  in  ten.    It  was  not  only 


THE  CONFESSIONS  OF  1648  AND  1680  141 

felt  as  a  grievance  to  be  thus  sliiit  out  fi'oni  llic  body  politic; 
but  sonic  were  sincerely  complaining  of  the  spiritual  i)i'ivation 
of  being  excluded,  themselves  and  their  families,  from  the 
sacraments;  on  the  other  hand,  the  churches  themselves  felt 
weakened  by  the  exclusion  of  many  who  could  hardly  be  pro- 
nounced less  fit  for  church  fellowship  than  those  who  were 
within  the  pale. 

"And  yet  it  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  intent 
on  the  part  of  the  Founder  to  draw  lines  excluding  from  the 
church  any  sincere  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  idea  of 
establishing  sectarian  churches  for  a  certain  style  of  Christian 
from  which  other  sorts  of  Christians  should  be  excluded  be- 
longs to  a  later  age,  and  would  have  been  abhorrent  to  the 
first  generation.  They  sincerely  meant  that  all  the  faithful 
Christians  of  each  toAvn  should  be  the  church  of  that  town, 
exercising  all  the  functions  of  a  church  free  of  interference 
from  without;  but  in  seeking  this  worthy  object  they  fell  into 
two  grave  mistakes.  1.  In  their  righteous  reaction  from  the 
miserable  corruption  of  the  English  parish  churches  they  went 
to  the  opposite  extreme,  not  only  putting  out  the  demonstrably 
unworthy,  but  keeping  out  those  whose  worthiness,  was  not 
satisfactorily  demonstrated. ' ' 

Very  unwillingly  did  the  early  Puritans  take  any  steps 
which  made  the  re!;;'i-in  of  their  churches  sectarian;  and  this 
was  one  reason  for  their  aversion  to  the  making  of  creeds. 

The  faith  of  these  early  Congregationalists  they  regarded 
themselves  as  holding  in  common  with  the  Reformed  churches 
of  the  Avhole  world.  Their  polity  was  their  o^Yn.  They  might 
readily  have  said, 

"Let  us  write  the  Polity  of  the  Congregational  Churches, 
and  we  care  not  who  shall  write  their  Creeds." 


IV.     THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION 

The  Michigan  City  Convention  of  1846  and  the  Albany 
Convention  of  1852  mark  the  renaissance  of  Congregational- 
ism. The  former  expressed  the  new  life  of  the  west,  and  the 
latter  was  the  first  national  Congregational  gathering  held 
outside  of  New  England.  The  divergent  polities  of  Massa- 
chusetts, with  its  more  rigid  independency,  and  Connecticut 
with  its  consociation  system  which  had  lent  itself  to  the  Plan 
of  Union,  flowed  together  with  fresh  tributaries  from  the 
west  and  northwest  into  a  river  like  that  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  and  the  confluent  stream  was  that  of  a  new  and  truly 
nationalized  Congregationalism.  The  abandonment  of  the 
Plan  of  Union  marked  the  rise  of  a  new  denominational  con- 
sciousness, and  gave  to  the  west  a  new  place  in  the  Councils 
of  the  denomination.  The  approach  of  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War  indicated  the  rise  of  new  home  missionary  prospects  and 
problems,  and  a  new  opportunity  to  make  the  denomination 
a  national  power. 

The  Convention  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  the 
northwest,  whose  chief  function  is  the  election  of  directors 
of  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  was  in  session  in  Chicago 
on  April  27,  1864,  when  Rev.  Truman  M.  Post,  a  delegate 
from  St,  Louis,  introduced  a  resolution  that  in  view  of  the 
results  of  the  war  "the  crisis  demands  general  consultation, 
co-operation,  and  concert  among  our  churches,  and  to  these 
ends,  requires  extensive  correspondence  among  ecclesiastical 
associations,  or  the  assembling  of  a  National  Congregational 
Convention."  The  Illinois  General  Association,  in  session  at 
Quincy,  May  27,  1864,  took  official  action,  inviting  other  state 
bodies  to  unite  in  promoting  ' '  a  National  Convention. ' '    Dur- 

142 


THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  143 

ing  that  summer  and  autumn  the  state  organizations  of  Indi- 
anna,  Michigan,  Iowa,  Ohio,  Rhode  Island,  Maine,  Connecticut, 
Vermont,  Masaschusetts,  New  York,  and  Minnesota  ratified 
the  plan  in  the  order  named.  On  November  16,  1864,  the  joint 
committee  representing  the  state  bodies  met  in  Broadway 
Tabernacle,  New  York,  and  arranged  for  the  call  of  "a  Na- 
tional Council  to  be  assembled  in  Boston  on  the  second 
Wednesday  of  June,  1865.  A  committee  of  three  was  appoint- 
ed to  report  to  the  Council  "a  statement  of  Congregational 
church  polity,"  the  committee  consisting  of  Rev.  Messera. 
Leonard  Bacon,  A.  H.  Quint,  and  H.  M.  Storrs.  Another 
conunittee  was  appointed  to  consider  "the  expediency  of  set- 
ting forth  a  declaration  of  faith,  as  held  in  common  by  the 
Congregational  cluirches."  This  committee  consisted  of  Rev. 
Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson,  Prof.  G.  P.  Fisher,  and  Prof.  E.  A. 
Lawrence, 

The  National  Council  of  1865  was  in  every  respect  a 
notable  gathering,  and  it  is  the  only  one  of  our  great  national 
assemblies  of  whose  discussions  we  have  a  stenographic  report. 
The  body  convened  in  the  Old  South  of  June  14,  and  two 
days  later  the  Committee  on  Confession  made  its  report.  They 
stated  that  "they  could  not  regard  it  as  their  function  to 
prepare  a  confession  of  faith  to  be  imposed  by  act  of  this 
or  any  other  body  upon  the  churches  of  the  Congregational 
order."  They  quoted  from  the  Saybrook  platform  regarding 
the  Scriptures  as  the  only  rule  of  religion,  and  stated  that 
while  the  faith  of  the  Congregational  churches  was  essentially 
Calvinistic,  and  hence  in  general  accord  with  the  confessions 
of  Westminister  and  Savoy,  there  existed  what  Cotton  Mather 
happily  called  "variety  in  unity,"  which  the  committee  did 
not  wish  to  disturb  by  a  formulation  of  doctrines ;  but  rather 
deemed  it  better  to  characterize  in  a  comprehensive  way  the 
faith  of  the  churches  "for  the  substance  thereof"  in  the  an- 
cient confessions  of  1648  and  1680.  They  did,  however,  sub- 
mit a  certain  recital  of  Congregational  principles,  and  closed 


144     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

with  a  statement  which  rather  closely  approximated  a  con- 
fession of  faith,  though  carefully  avoiding  the  form  of  such 
confession. 

FIRST  REPORT  ON  DECLARATION  OF  FAITH 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  preliminary  conference  to  pre- 
pare a  Declaration  of  Faith  to  be  submitted  to  the  Council,  re- 
spectfully report: 

That,  in  the  light  of  the  discussions  of  that  conference  upon  tjie 
expediency  of  such  a  Declaration,  and  also  of  the  geaeral  principles 
of  our  polity,  they  could  not  regard  it  as  their  function  to  prepare 
a  Confession  of  Faith  to  be  imposed  by  act  of  this,  or  of  any  other 
body,  upon  the  churches  of  the  Congregational  order.  "It  was  the 
glory  of  our  fathers,  that  they  heartily  professed  the  only  rule  of 
their  religion,  from  the  very  first,  to  be  the  Holy  Scriptures;"  and 
particular  churches  have  always  exercised  their  liberty  in  "confes- 
sions drawn  up  in  their  own  forms."  And  such  has  been  the  accord 
of  these  particular  confessions,  one  with  another,  and  with  the 
Scriptures,  that  we  may  to-day  repeat,  with  thankfulness,  the  words 
of  the  fathers  of  the  Savoy  Confession,  two  centuries  ago:  while, 
"from  the  first,  every,  or  at  least  the  generality,  of  our  churches 
have  been,  in  a  mannel^  like  so  many  ships — though  holding  forth 
the  same  general  colors — launched  singly,  and  sailing  apart  and 
alone  in  the  vast  ocean  of  these  tumultuous  times,  and  have  been 
exposed  to  'every  wind  of  doctrine,'  under  no  other  conduct  than  the 
Word  and  Spirit,"  ....  yet  "let  all  acknowledge  that  God  hath 
ordered  it  for  his  high  and  greater  glory,  in  that  his  singular  care 
and  power  should  have  so  watched  over  each  of  these,  as  that  all 
should  be  found  to  have  steered  their  course  by  the  same  Chart,  and 
to  have  been  bound  for  one  and  the  same  Port;  and  that  the  same 
holy  and  blessed  Truths  of  all  sorts,  which  are  current  and  warrant- 
able amongst  all  the  other  churches  of  Christ  in  the  world,  are 
found  to  be  our  Lading." 

Whatever  the  diversities  of  metaphysical  theology  apparent  in 
these  various  Confessions,  they  yet,  with  singular  unanimity,  iden- 
tify the  faith  of  the  Congregational  churches  with  the  body  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  known  as  Calvinistic;  and  hence  such  Confessions  as 
that  of  the  Westminster  divines,  and  that  of  the  Savoy  Synod,  have 
been  accredited  among  these  churches  as  general  symbols  of  faith. 

It  has  not  appeared  to  the  committee  expedient  to  recommend 
that  this  Council  should  disturb  this  "variety  in  unity" — as  Cotton 
Mather  happily  describes  it — by  an  attempted  uniformity  of  state- 
ment in  a  Confession  formulating  each  doctrine  in  more  recent 
terms  of  metaphysical  theology.  It  seemed  better  to  characterize  in 
a  comprehensive  way  the  doctrines  held  in  common  by  our  churches, 
than  thus  to  individualize  each  in  a  theological  formula.  The  latter 
course  might  rather  disturb  the  unity  that  now  exists  amid  variety. 
Moreover,  little  could  be  gained  in  this  respect  beyond  what  we  al- 
ready possess  in  the  ancient  formulas  referred  to,  which,  being 


THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  145 

interpreted  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  conceived,  answer  the 
end  of  a  substantial  unity  in  doctrine,  and  have  withal  the  savor 
of  antiquity  and  the  proof  of  use. 

In  the  language  of  the  Preface,  to  the  Savoy  Declaration,  a  Con- 
fession is  "to  be  looked  upon  but  as  a  meet  or  fit  medium  or  mean^ 
whereby  to  express  a  common  faith  and  salvation,  and  no  way  to 
be  made  use  of  as  an  imposition  upon  any.  Whatever  is  of  force  or 
constraint  in  matters  of  this  nature,  causes  them  to  degenerate  from 
the  name  and  nature  of  Confessions,  and  turns  them  from  being 
Confessions  of  Faith  into  exactions  and  impositions  of  Faith!"  Yet 
a  common  Confession  serves  the  important  purpose — the  "neglect" 
of  which  the  Savoy  fathers  sought  to  remedy — of  making  manifest 
our  unity  in  doctrine,  and  of  "holding  out  common  lights  to  others 
whexeby  to  know  where  we  are." 

With  these  views,  as  the  result  of  prolonged  and  careful  delib- 
eration, the  committee  unanimously  recommend  that  the  Council 
should  declare,  by  reference  to  historical  and  venerable  symbols,  the 
faith  as  it  has  been  maintained  among  the  Congregational  churches 
from  the  beginning;  and  also  that  it  should  set  forth  a  testimony  on 
behalf  of  these  churches,  for  the  Word  of  Truth  now  assailed  by 
multiform  and  dangerous  errors;  and  for  this  end,  they  respectfully 
submit  the  following 

Recital  and  Declaration. 

When  the  churches  of  New  England  assembled  in  a  general 
Synod  at  Cambridge  In  1648,  they  declared  their  assent,  "for  the 
substance  thereof"  to  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith. 
When  again  these  churches  convened  in  a  general  Synod  at 
Boston,  in  1680,  they  declared  their  approval  (with  slight  ver- 
bal alterations)  of  the  doctrinal  symbol  adopted  by  a  Synod  of 
the  Congregational  churches  in  England,  at  London,  in  1658,  and 
known  as  the  "Savoy  Confession,"  which  in  doctrine  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  the  Westminster  Assembly.  And  yet  again, 
when  the  churches  in  Connecticut  met  in  council  at  Saybrook  in 
1708,  they  "owned  and  consented  to"  the  Savoy  Confession  as 
adopted  at  Boston,  and  offered  this  as  a  public  symbol  of  their  faith. 

Thus,  from  the  beginning  of  their  history,  the  Congregational 
churches  in  the  United  States  have  been  allied  in  doctrine  with  the 
Reformed  churches  of  Europe,  and  especially  of  Great  Britain.  The 
eighth  article  of  the  "Heads  of  Agreement,"  established  by  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbj^erian  ministers  in  England  in  1692,  and 
adopted  at  Saybrook  in  1708,  defines  this  position  in  these  words: 
"As  to  what  appertains  to  soundness  of  judgment  in  matters  of 
faith,  we  esteem  it  sufficient  that  a  church  acknowledge  the  Scrip- 
tures to  be  the  Word  of  God,  the  perfect  and  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  and  own  either  the  doctrinal  part  of  those  commonly  called 
the  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  the  Confession  or  Cater 
chisms,  shorter  or  larger,  compiled  by  the  Assembly  at  Westmin- 
ster, or  the  Confession  agreed  on  at  the  Savoy,  to  be  agreeable  to 
the  said  rule." 


146     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

And  now,  when,  after  the  lapse  of  two  centuries,  these  churches 
are  again  convened  in  a  General  Council  at  their  primitive  and 
historical  home,  it  is  enough  for  the  first  of  those  ends  enumerated 
by  the  Synod  at  Cambridge, — to  wit,  "the  maintenance  of  the  faith 
entire  within  itself" — that  this  Council,  referring  to  these  ancient 
symbols  as  embodying,  for  substance  of  doctrine,  the  constant  faith 
of  the  churches  here  represented,  declares  its  adherence  to  the  same, 
as  being  "well  and  fully  grounded  upon  the  Holy  Scriptui'es,"  which 
is  "the  only  sufficient  and  invariable  rule  of  religion." 

But  having  in  view,  also,  the  second  end  of  a  public  confession 
enumerated  by  the  Cambridge  Synod,  to  wit,  "the  holding  forth  of 
unity  and  harmony  both  amongst  and  with  other  churches,"  we  de- 
sire to  promote  a  closer  fellowship  of  all  Christian  denominations  in 
the  faith  and  work  of  the  gospel,  especially  against  popular  and 
destructive  forms  of  unbelief  which  assail  the  foundations  of  all 
religion,  both  natural  and  revealed;  which  know  no  God  but  nature; 
no  Depravity  but  physical  malformation,  immaturity  of  powers,  or 
some  incident  of  outward  condition;  no  Providence  but  the  working 
of  material  causes  and  of  statistical  laws ;  no  Revelation  but  that  of 
consciousness;  no  Redemption  but  the  elimination  of  evil  by  a 
natural  sequence  of  suffering;  no  Regeneration  but  the  natural  evo- 
lution of  a  higher  type  of  existence;  no  Retribution  but  the  neces- 
sary consequences  of  physical  and  psychological  laws. 

As  a  Testimony,  in  common  with  all  Christian  believers,  against 
these  and  kindred  errors,  we  deem  it  important  to  make  a  more 
specific  declaration  of  the  following  truths: 

There  is  one  personal  God,  who  created  all  things;  who  con- 
trols the  physical  universe,  the  laws  whereof  he  has  established; 
and  who,  holding  all  events  within  his  knowledge,  rules  over  men 
by  his  wise  and  good  providence  and  by  his  perfect  moral  law. 

God,  whose  being,  perfections,  and  government  are  partially 
made  known  to  us  through  the  testimony  of  his  works  and  of  con- 
science, has  made  a  further  revelation  of  himself  in  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments — a  revelation  attested  at  the  first 
by  supernatural  signs,  and  confirmed  through  all  the  ages  since  by 
its  moral  effects  upon  the  individual  soul  and  upon  human  society; 
a  revelation  authoritative  and  final.  In  this  revelation  God  has  der 
Glared  himself  to  be  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost;  and 
he  has  manifested  his  love  for  the  world  through  the  incarnation 
of  the  Eternal  Word  for  man's  redemption,  in  the  sinless  life,  the 
expiatory  sufferings  and  death,  and  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, 
our  Lord  and  Saviour;  and  also  in  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
the  Comforter,  for  the  regeneration  and  sanctification  of  the  souls  of 
men. 

The  Scriptures,  confirming  the  testimony  of  conscience  and  of 
history,  declare  that  mankind  are  universally  sinners,  and  are  under 
the  righteous  condemnation  of  the  law  of  God;  that  from  this  state 
there  is  no  deliverance,  save  through  "repentance  toward  God,  and 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  and  that  there  is  a  day  appointed 


THE   BURIAL   HILL  CONFESSION  147 

in  which  God  will  raise  the  dead,  and  will  judge  the  woild,  and  in 
which  the  issues  of  his  moral  government  over  men  shall  be  made 
manifest  in  the  awards  of  eternal  life  and  eternal  death,  according 
to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 

JOSEPH  P.  THOMPSON,     1 
EDWARD  A.  LAWRENCE,  [  Committee. 
GEORGE  P.  FISHER,  J 

Boston,  June  16,  1865. 

The  report  did  not  meet  with  entire  favor.  It  was  im- 
mediately referred  to  another  eominittee,  which  was  subse- 
quently enlarged  so  as  to  include  the  most  distinguished  theo- 
logians present  in  the  Council.  The  whole  question  whether 
the  Council  should  adopt  a  creed,  and  if  so,  what  creed,  was 
referred  to  thisj  body,  consisting  of  Rev.  John  0.  Fiske,  Prof. 
D.  J.  Noyes,  Rev.  Drs.  Nahum  Gale,  Joseph  Eldridge,  and 
Leonard  Swain,  Dr.  A.  G.  Bristol,  Rev.  J.  C.  Hart,  Dea.  S.  S. 
Barnard  and  Rev.  G.  S.  F.  Savage,  to  which  latter  were  added 
Profs.  Samuel  Harris,  E.  A.  Park,  E.  A.  Lawrence,  Noah 
Porter,  J.  H.  Fairchild,  and  Joseph  Haven. 

After  several  days  of  deliberation,  this  committee  made 
its  report.  It  shortened  the  preliminaiy  statement,  aiid  length- 
ened the  confession,  and  made  it  more  than  ever  a  testimom' 
against  ''dangerous  errors."  Particularly,  it  reaffirmed  ''our 
adheranee  to  the  above  named  Westminister  and  Savoy  Con- 
fessions 'for  substance  of  doctrine.'  "  It  further  declared 
"our  acceptance  of  the  system  of  truths,  which  is  commonly 
kno^\^l  among  us  as  Calvinism." 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the 
preliminary  Committee  on  the  Declaration  of  Faith  made  re- 
port as  follows: 

SECOND  REPORT  ON  A  DECLARATION  OF  FAITH 

The  committee,  in  presenting  the  following  report  to  the  Council, 
regret  that  time  and  circumstances  would  not  allow  them  to  prepare 
a  condensed  statement  of  the  doctrines  held  by  our  denomination. 
We  desire  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  brief  confession 
of  the  faith  which  we  held  in  concert  with  the  great  body  of  be- 


148  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND   COVENANTS 

lievers  is  in  no  sense  designed  to  be  regarded  as  a  creed  for  our 
churches. 

When  the  churches  of  New  England  assembled  in  a  general 
synod  at  Cambridge,  in  1648,  they  declared  their  assent,  "for  the 
substance,  thereof,"  to  the  "Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  When 
again,  these  churches  convened  in  a  general  synod  at  Boston,  in 
1680,  they  declared  their  approval  (with  slight  verbal  alterations) 
of  the  doctrinal  symbol  adopted  by  a  synod  of  the  Congregational 
;^hurches  in  England,  at  London,  in  1658,  and  known  as  the  "Savoy 
Confession,"  which  in  doctrine  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly.  And  yet  again:  when  the  churches  in 
Connecticut  met  in  Council  at  Saybrook,  in  1708,  they  "owned  and 
consented  to"  the  Savoy  Confession  as  adopted  at  Boston,  and  of- 
fered this  as  a  public  symbol  of  their  faith. 

Thus,  from  the  beginning  of  their  history,  the  Congregational 
churches  in  the  United  States  have  been  allied  in  doctrine  with  the 
Reformed  churches  of  Europe,  and  especially  of  Great  Britain.  The 
eighth  article  of  the  "Heads  of  Agreement,"  established  by  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  ministers  in  England  in  1692,  and 
adopted  at  Saybrook  in  1708,  defines  this  position  in  these  words: 
"As  to  what  appertains  to  soundness  of  judgment  in  matters  of 
faith,  we  esteem  it  sufficient  that  a  Church  acknowledge  the  Scrip- 
tures to  be  the  word  of  God,  the  perfect  and  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  and  own  either  the  doctrinal  part  of  those  commonly 
called  the  Articles  of  the,  Church  of  England,  or  the  Confessions  or 
Catechisms,  shorter  or  larger,  compiled  by  the  Assembly  at  West- 
minster, or  the  Confession  agreed  on  at  the  Savoy,  to  be  agreeable  to 
the  said  rule." 

In  conformity,  therefore,  with  the  usage  of  previous  Councils, 
we,  the  elders  and  messengers  of  the  Congregational  churches  in 
the  United  States,  do  now  profess  our  adherence  to  the  above-named 
Westminster  and  Savoy  Confessions  for  "substance  of  doctrine." 
We  thus  declare  our  acceptance  of  the  system  of  truths  [which  is 
commonly  known  among  us  as  Calvinism,  and]  which  is  distin- 
guished from  other  systems  by  so  exalting  the  sovereignty  of  God 
as  to  "establish"  rather  than  take  away  the  "liberty"  or  free-agency 
of  man,  and  by  so  exhibiting  the  eatire  character  of  God  as  to  show 
most  clearly  "the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin." 

At  the  same  time  we  re-affirm  the  fundamental  principle  of 
Congregationalism,  that  the  Bible  is  "the  only  sufficient  and  invar- 
iable rule  of  religion;"  that,  in  order  to  attain  a  faith  which  is 
"right  and  divine,  the  word  of  God  must  be  the  foundation  of  it,  and 
the  authority  of  the  word  the  reason  of  it."  We  "ought  to  account 
nothing  ancient  that  will  not  stand  by  this  rule,  and  nothing  new 
that  will."  "It  was  the  glory  of  our  fathers,  that  they  heartily 
professed  the  only  rule  of  their  religion,  from  the  very  first,  to  be 
the  Holy  Scripture." 

Besides  thus  expressing  the  faith  which  we  hold  as  a  denomi- 
nation, we  deem  the  present  a  fit  occasion  to  express  the  earnest- 
ness of  our  sympathy  with  all  those  Christian  churches  who  are 
agreed  with  us  in  the  essential  truths  of  the  gospel;  especially  as 


THE   BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  149 

our  common  faith  is  now  assailed  by  popular  and  destructive  forms 
of  unbelief,  which  deny  the  living  and  personal  God,  which  reject 
the  possibility  of  a  supernatural  revelation  by  Jesus  Christ,  which 
exclude  the  fact  of  sin  and  the  hope  of  redeanption. 

Against  these  dangerous  errors,  we,  in  common  with  all  Chris- 
tian believers,  confess  our  faith  in  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  only  living  and  true  God;  in  Jesus  Christ,  the 
incarnate  Word,  who  is  exalted  to  be  our  Redeemer  and  King;  and 
in,  the  Holy  Comforter,  who  is  present  in  the  Church  to  regenerate 
and  sanctify  the  soul. 

With  the  whole  Church,  we  confess  the  common  sinfulness  and 
ruin  of  our  race,  and  acknowledge  that  it  is  only  through  the  w^ork 
accomplished  by  the  life  and  expiatory  death  of  Christ  that  we  are 
justified  before  God,  and  receive  the  remission  of  sins;  and  that  it 
is  through  the  presence  and  grace  of  the  Holy  Comforter  alone  that 
we  hope  to  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  sin  and  to  be  perfected 
in  holiness. 

We  believe  also  in  the  organized  and  visible  Church,  in  the 
ministry  of  the  word,  in  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  in  the  final  judgment, 
the  issues  of  which  are  eternal  life  and  everlasting  punishment. 

We  receive  these  truths  on  the  testimony  of  God,  given  origi- 
nally through  prophets  and  apostles,  and  in  the  life,  the  miracles, 
the  death,  the  resurrection,  of  his  Son,  our  divine  Redeemer.  This 
testimony  is  preserved  for  the  Church  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  which  were  composed  by  holy  men  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  affirm  our  belief  that  those  who  thus  hold  "one  faith,  one 
Lord,  one  baptism,"  together  constitute  the  one  catholic  Church,  the 
several  households  of  which,  though  called  by  different  names,  are 
the  one  body  of  Christ;  and  that  these  members  of  his  body  are 
sacredly  bound  to  keep  "the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace," 
and  to  dwell  together  in  the  same  community  in  harmony  and 
mutual  fellowship. 

We  hold  it  to  be  a  distinctive  excellence  of  our  Congregational 
system  that  it  exalts  that  which  is  more  above  that  which  is  less 
important,  and  by  the  simplicity  of  its  organization  facilitates,  in 
communities  where  the  population  is  limited,  the  union  of  all  true 
believers  in  one  Christian  Church;  and  that  the  division  of  such 
communitias  into  several  weak  and  jealous  societies,  holding  the 
same  common  faith,  is  a  sin  against  the  unity  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
and  at  once  the  shame  and  scandal  of  Christendom. 

We  bless  the  God  of  our  fathers  for  the  inheritance  of  these 
doctrines  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us  their  children.  We  in- 
voke the  help  of  the  divine  Redeemer,  that,  through  the  presence  of 
th  promised  Comforter,  he  will  enable  us  to  transmit  them  in  purity 
to  our  children.  We  rejoice,  that,  through  the  influence  of  our  free 
system  of  apostolic  order,  we  can  hold  fellowship  Avith  all  who 
acknowledge  Christ,  and  act  efficiently  in  the  work  of  restoring 
unity  to  the  divided  Church,  and  of  bringing  back  harmony  and 
peace  among  all  "who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity." 


150     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

We  believe  that  these  truths  and  this  free  spirit  have  blessed  our 
country  in  the  past,  that  they  have  made,  New  England  what  she  is 
in  the  present,  and  have  carried  her  principles,  by  other  denomina- 
tions as  well  as  our  own,  throughout  the  Union,  while  in  our  recent 
struggle  they  have  largely  contributed  to  redeem  and  save  the 
nation. 

In  the  critical  times  that  are  before  us  as  a  nation,  times  at  once 
of  duty  and  of  danger,  we  rest  all  our  hopes  in  the  gospel  of  the 
Son  of  God.  It  was  the  grand  peculiarity  of  our  Puritan  Fathers, 
that  they  held  this  gospel,  not  merely  as  the  ground  of  their  per- 
sonal salvation,  but  as  declaring  the  worth  of  man  by  the  incarna- 
tion and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God;  and  therefore  applied  its  prin- 
ciples to  elevate  society,  to  regulate  education,  to  civilize  humanity, 
to  purify  law,  to  reform  the  Church  and  thei  State,  to  assert,  to  de- 
fend, and  to  die  for  liberty;  in  short,  to  mould  and  redeem  by  its 
all-transforming  energy  everything  that  belongs  to  man  in  his  in- 
dividual and  social  relations. 

It  was  the  faith  of  our  fathers  that  gave  us  this  free  land  in 
which  we  dwell.  It  is  by  this  faith  only  that  we  can  transmit  it  to 
our  children,  a  free  and  happy,  because  a  Christian,  commonwealth. 

We  acknowledge  the  duty  that  is  laid  upon  us  by  the  Redeemer 
to  carry  this  gospel  into  every  part  of  this  land  and  to  all  nations, 
and  to  teach  all  men  the  things  which  he  has  commanded  us  to  ob- 
serve and  to  do.  May  He  to  whom  "all  power  is  given  in  heaven  and 
earth"  fulfill  the  promise  which  is  all  our  hope:  "Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  To  him  be  praise  in  the 
Church  forever.  Amen. 

For  the  committee.  JOHN  O.  FISK,  Chairman. 

As  soon  as  the  second  committee  had  presented  its  report, 
the  chairman  of  the  previous  committee,  Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson, 
moved  its  substitution  for  his  o^^^l;  but  Rev.  Uriah  Balkam, 
who  was  from  Maine,  as  was  the  chairman  Dr.  Fiske,  opposed 
this  motion,  and  actively  moved  for  the  adoption  of  the  origi- 
nal report. 

A  vigorous  discussion  ensued.  It  began  in  a  contest  be- 
tween the  two  reports,  but  it  shifted  to  a  debate  on  the  name 
of  Calvin. 

Among  the  delegates  to  the  Council  were  some  who  did 
not  believe  that  the  Council  should  adopt  any  creed.  There 
were  others  who  declared  themselves  satisfied  with  the  con- 
fessions of  1648  and  1680.  There  were  others  insisted  that  if 
the  Council  should  adopt  a  creed  it  should  express  very  strong- 
ly its  disapproval  of  what  some  other  people  did  not  believe. 


THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  151 

and  be  sure  that  the  Congregationalists  proclaimed  that  they 
were  Calvinists. 

Among  the  delegate.s  to  the  Boston  Council,  none  spoke 
more  cogently  on  the  matter  of  a  declaration  of  faith  than 
Rev.  Asa  Turner  of  Iowa.  Pic  expressed  his  disappointment, 
from  the  standpoint  of  a  minister  working  among  home  mis- 
sionary fields,  that  the  committee  did  not  report  a  short,  simple 
declaration,  unencumbered  with  theological  subtleties,  or  ob- 
scure references  to  earlier  and  unfamiliar  creeds.     He  said, — 

"I  hoped,  when  the  subject  of  a  declaration  of  faith  and 
of  polity  was  proposed  for  the  consideration  of  this  Conven- 
tion, that  there  would  be  a  simple,  comprehensive,  common 
sense  Declaration  of  Faith,  written  for  the  common  people- 
not  written  for  Andover  or  East  Windsor,  or  for  the  theolo- 
gians, but  for  the  people;  something  that  the  people  could 
understand,  and  feel  that  it  expressed  the  truth  of  the  Bible. 
.  .  .We  do  not  want,  in  expressing  our  belief,  to  tell  w^hat 
our  forefathers  believed  two  hundred  years  ago;  that  will  not 
satisfy  the  people  of  the  W~cst.  ...  It  has  been  my  hope,  but 
I  fear  I  may  be  disappointed,  that  such  a  short  and  simple 
statement  might  be  made  that  we  could  say  as  a  Council  'We 
believe  it. '  We  need  not  put  in  all  we  believe,  but  make  it  a 
statement  of  what  we  actually  believe  with  reference  to  the 
most  important  doctrines  of  the  Bible." 

Rev.  Joshua  Leavitt,  of  New  York,  moved  to  strike  out 
the  words  ''which  is  commonly  known  among  us  as  Calvin- 
ism." Rev.  William  W.  Patton,  of  Illinois,  heartily  supported 
the  motion,  protesting  against  naming  our  denomination  after 
John  Calvin,  or  any  other  man.  He  was  strongly  supported 
by  Rev.  J.  M.  Sturtevant,  of  Illinois,  who  protested  against 
being  compelled  to  subscribe  to  any  system  of  doctrine  divisive 
among  Christians. 

Prof.  Park,  of  Andover,  for  the  time  turned  the  tide  in 
favor  of  the  retention  of  the  name  of  Calvin.  Pie  .had  been 
shut  up  in  the  basement  of  ]Mount  Vernon  Church  in  com- 


152     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

mittee  work,  and  had  had  less  opportunity  to  enter  into  the 
discussion  than  he  liked.  He  arrived  in  time  to  utter  his 
opinion  on  this  subject,  to  make  one  or  two  jocular  references 
to  "having  been  kept  in  a  cellar  for  two  or  three  days"  and 
then  in  a  short  speech,  which  makes  extraordinary  reading 
after  this  lapse  of  time,  he  stood  for  the  retention  of  the  refer- 
ence to  Calvin.     He  said: 

''The  man  who  having  pursued  a  three  years'  course  of 
study,  having  studied  the  Bible  in  the  original  languages,  is 
not  a  Calvinist,  is  not  a  respectable  man. ' '  He  declared  that 
unless  the  Council  adopted  the  Confession  Avith  that  word  in 
it,  the  Council  Avould  become  ' '  a  hissing  and  a  by-word ! ' ' 

For  the  moment  the  Council  seemed  to  agree  with  Prof. 
Park,  and  took  recess;  but  its  awe  of  his  wit  and  ridicule 
passed. 

It  was  Kev.  A.  H.  Quint  who  dctennined  to  cut  the  knot. 
He  held  hurried  consultations  with  members  of  the  Business 
Committee,  and  they  determined  to  prepare  a  new  declaration. 
This  was  a  daring  and  unauthorized  act,  and  its  justification 
is  to  be  found  in  its  utility  and  its  success.  There  was  scant 
time  in  which  to  do  it,  and  the  Council  had  not  charged  the 
Business  Committee  with  any  responsibility  in  the  matter; 
but  the  plan  worked  out  admirably.  The  plan  was  to  prepare 
a  Confession  of  Faith  which  should  dwell  chiefly  on  our  essen- 
tial union  of  doctrine  and  purpose  with  the  Pilgrims,  and  then 
to  state  our  own  faith  in  reasonably  modern  language. 

So,  while  the  delegates  were  standing  on  Burial  Hill, 
where  once  had  stood  the  old  Pilgrim  church  which  was  also 
their  fort.  Colonel  Hammond  of  Illinois,  assistant  moderator, 
took  the  chair,  and  Dr.  Quint  said : 

"I  have  been  directed  by  the  Business  Committee  to  read 
a  paper  which  is  in  their  hands.  The  idea  was  entertained 
that  it  might  possibly  meet  the  views  of  all  present.  If  it 
did,  well;  if  it  did  not,  it  could  be  quietly  dropped." 

Then  he  began  to  read: 


THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  153 

'  V)taiidiiig  by  the  rock  where  the  Pilgrims  set  foot  upon 
these  shores,  upon  the  spot  where  they  worshipped  God,  and 
among  the  graves  of  the  early  generations,  we.  Elders  and 
Messengers  of  the  Congregational  rhurehes  of  the  United 
States,  like  them  acknowledging  no  rule  of  faith  but  the 
Word  of  God,  do  now  reiterate  our  adherence  to  the  faith  and 
order  of  the  Apostolic  and  Primitive  Churches  as  held  by  our 
fathers, ' ' — 

After  such  an  introduction,  it  is  little  Avonder  the  Council 
adopted  the  Confession. 

Mr.  Quint  had  as  his  material  the  reports  of  the  two  pre- 
vious committees,  and  the  suggestions  of  the  discussions;  but 
he  was  a  member  of  other  committees,  and  had  scant  time  to 
work  his  material  into  shape,  and  less  time  to  confer  with 
other  members  of  the  Committee.  It  is  literally  true  as  Dr. 
Quint  informed  the  present  writer,  that  the  fine  introduction 
was  actually  written  on  his  hat,  as  the  train  was  enroute  for 
Plymouth. 

There  is  much  in  taking  advantage  of  the  psychological 
moment.  Delegates  who  had  listened  to  the  discussions  of  the 
two  reports  missed  from  Dr.  Quint's  report  the  phrases  which 
had  precipitated  warm  difference  of  opinion,  and  were  favor- 
ably inclined  by  every  condition  of  their  journey  to  consider 
the  report  which  he  submitted.  One  delegate  protested,  in 
the  name  of  the  Pilgrim  dead,  against  a  creed  so  sectarian  in 
spirit,  and  filed  his  protest  in  writing  next  day ;  but  his  single 
voice,  while  courteously  listened  to,  was  far  outvoted.  Like 
the  Kansas  Citv  rie'-l:v,nti'^n.  the  Burial  Hill  Confession  w^as 
adopted  with  only  one  vote  against  it. 

THIRD  REPORT  ON  DECLARATION  OF  FAITH 

The  records  of  the  National  Council  of  1865,  record  that  on 
"Wednesday,  June  21,  the  Council  adjourned  with  the  Doxology,  to 
meet  at  the  Mt.  Vernon  Church  to-morrow  morning,  at  9  o'clock, 
should  the  day  be  rainy;  otherwise  to  meet  on  Burial  Hill  in  Ply- 
mouth, at  11  A.  M.,  and  then  proceed:  — 


154     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Eighth  Day;   Thursday,  June  22,  1865. 

Council  assembled  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock,  A.  M.,  on 
Burial  Hill,  in  Plymouth,  Mass.,  and  were  called  to  order  by  Hon. 
C.  G.  Hammond,  first  Assistant  Moderator.  Prayer  was  offered  by 
the  Rev.  David  Bremner,  pastor  of  the  Third  Church  of  the  Pil- 
grimage in  Plymouth. 

The  reading  of  the  records  was  postponed  until  to-morrow. 

Rev.  Mr  Quint,  from  the  Business  Committee,  presented  a  paper 
as  a  substitute  for  that  yesterday  reported  by  the  committee  to 
whom  was  referred  the  report  of  the  preliminary  Committee  on  a 
Declaration  of  Faith,  as  follows:  — 

Report. 

Standing  by  the  rock  where  the  Pilgrims  set  foot  upon  these 
shores,  upon  the  spot  where  they  worshiped  God,  and  among  the 
graves  of  the  early  generations,  we,  Elders  and  Messengers  of  the 
Congregational  Churches  of  the  United  States  in  National  Council 
assembled,  like  them  acknowledging  no  rule  of  faith  but  the  word 
of  God,  do  now  [reiterate]  our  adherence  to  the  faith  and  order  of 
the  Apostolic  and  Primitive  Churches  [as]  held  by  our  Fathers, 
and  [as  substantially  embodied]  in  the  Confessions  and  Platforms 
which  our  Synods  of  1648  and  1680  set  forth  or  reaffirmed.  We  de- 
clare that  the  experience  of  the  nearly  two  and  a  half  centuries 
which  have  elapsed  since  the  memorable  day  when  our  sires  found- 
ed here  a  Christian  Commonwealth,  with  all  the  development  of 
new  forms  of  error  since  their  times,  have  only  deepened  our  con- 
fidence in  the  faith  and  polity  of  these  Fathers.  We  bless  [the] 
God  [of  our  Fathers]  for  the  inheritance  of  these,  doctrines,  [which 
have  been  transmitted  to  us  their  children.]  We  invoke  the  help  of 
the  Divine  Redeemer,  that,  through  the  presence  of  the  promised 
Comforter,  he  will  enable  us  to  transmit  them,  in  purity,  to  our 
children. 

In  the  times  that  are  before  us  as  a  nation,  times  at  once  of  duty 
and  of  danger,  we  rest  all  our  hope  in  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
It  was  the  grand  peculiarity  of  our  Puritan  Fathers  that  they  held 
this  gospel,  not  merely  as  the  ground  of  their  personal  salvation, 
but  as  declaring  the  worth  of  man  by  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice 
of  the  Son  of  God;  and  therefore  applied'  its  principles  to  elevate 
society,  to  regulate  education,  to  civilize  humanity,  to  purify  law, 
to  reform  the  Church  and  the  State,  and  to  assert  and  to  defend 
liberty;  in  short,  to  mould  and  redeem,  by  its  all-transforming 
energy,  everything  that  belongs  to  man,  in  his  individual  and  social 
relations. 

It  was  the  faith  of  our  fathers  that  gave'  us  this  free  land  in 
which  we  dwell.  It  is  by  this  faith  only  that  we  can  transmit  it  to 
our  children,  a  free  and  happy,  because  a  Christian,  commonwealth. 

We  hold  it  to  be  a  distinctive  excellence  of  our  Congregational 
system  that  it  exalts  that  which  is  more  above  that  which  is  less, 
important,  and,  by  the  simplicity  of  its  organization,  facilitates,  in 


THE   BURIAL  HILL   CONFESSION  155 

communities  where  the  population  is  limited,  the  union  of  all  true 
believers  in  one  Christian  Church;  and  that  the  division  of  such 
communities  into  several  weal<  and  jealous  societies,  holding  the 
same  common  faith,  is  a  sin  against  the  unity  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
and  at  once  the  shame  and  scandal  of  Christendom. 

"We  rejoice  that,  through  the  influence  of  our  free  system  of 
apostolic  order,  we  can  hold  fellowship  with  all  who  acknowledge 
Christ,  and  act  efficiently  in  the  work  of  restoring  unity  to  the 
divided  Church,  and  of  bringing  back  harmony  and  peace  among 
all  "who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity." 

[But]  recognizing  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  all  the 
world,  and  knowing  that  we  are  but  one  branch  of  Christ's  people — 
while  adhering  to  our  own  peculiar  faith  and  order — we  extend  to 
all  bCilievers  the  hand  of  Christian  fellowship  upon  the  basis  of 
those  fundamental  truths  in  which  all  Christians  [may]  agree. 
With  them  we  confess  our  faith  in  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  only  living  and  true  God;  in  Jesus  Christ  the  in- 
carnate Word,  who  is  exalted  to  be  our  Redeemer  and  King;  and 
in  the  Holy  Comforter,  who  is  present  in  the  Church  to  regenerate 
and  sanctify  the  soul. 

With  the  whole  Church,  we  confess  the  common  sinfulness  and 
ruin  of  our  race,  and  acknowledge  that  it  is  only  through  the  work 
accomplished  by  the  life  and  expiatory  death  of  Christ  that  [we] 
are  justified  before  God,  [and]  receive  the  remission  of  sins;  and 
[that  it  is]  through  the  presence  and  grace  of  the  Holy  Comforter 
[alone  that  we]  [hope  to  be]  delivered  from  the  power  of  sin,  and 
[to  be]  perfected  in  holiness. 

We  believe  also  in  [an]  organized  and  visible  Church,  in  the 
ministry  of  the  word,  in  the  sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  in  the  final  judgment, 
the  issues  of  which  are  eternal  life  and  everlasting  punishment. 

We  receive  these  truths  on  the  testimony  of  God,  given  [(.rigin- 
ally]  through  prophets  and  apostles,  and  in  the  life,  the  miracles,  the 
death,  the  resurrection,  of  his  Son,  our  divine  Redeemer — a  testi- 
mony preserved  for  the  Church  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  which  were  composed  by  holy  men  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Affirming  now  our  belief  that  those  who  thus  hold  "one  faith, 
one  Lord,  one  baptism,"  together  constitute  the  one  catholic  Church, 
the  several  households  of  which,  though  called  by  different  names, 
are  the  one  body  of  Christ,  and  that  these  members  of  his  body  are 
sacredly  bound  to  keep  "the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace," 
we  declare  that  we  will  co-operate  with  all  who  hold  these  truths. 
With  them  we  will  carry  the  gospel  into  every  part  of  this  land; 
and  with  them  we  will  go  "into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature." 

May  He  to  whom  "all  power  is  given  in  heaven  and  earth"  fulfill 
the  promise  which  is  all  our  hope:  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  to  the  ejad  of  the  world."    Amen. 


156    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Dea.  Charles  Stoddard,  of  Massachusetts,  moved  that  this  sub- 
stitute be  accepted  and  adopted;  and  also  that  it  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  committee  whosei  duty  it  shall  be  to  suggest  any  verbal 
alterations  that  may  seem  to  be  desirable  not  affecting  the  sense,  to 
report  before  the  dissolution  of  the  Council.  The  motion  was 
carried. 

It  was  further  moved  that  this  committee  be  composed  of  one 
member  from  each  State  and  Territory  represented  in  the  Council, 
and  that  they  be  chosen  by  ballot  immediately  after  the  preliminary 
exercises  of  the  session  of  to-morrow  morning.  This  motion  was 
carried. 

After  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  Daggett,  of  New  York,  closing  vrith 
the  Lord's  prayer,  in  which  the  Council  joined,  the  Council  ad- 
journed with  the  singing  of  the  Doxology,  to  meet  in  the  Mount 
Vernon  Church,  in  Boston,  to-morrow  at  8  A.  M. 

Ninth  Day;  Friday  Morning,  June  23,  9  A.  M. 

The  Council  was  called  to  order  by  the  First  Assistant  Moder- 
ator, Hon.  C.  G.  Hammond,  who  offered  prayer. 

The  minutes  of  the  Council  for  Wednesday  and  Thursday  were 
read,  amended,  and  approved.  Gov.  Buckingham  appeared  and  took 
the  chair. 

It  was  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  of  yesterday,  by  which 
the  appointment  of  a  special  committee  of  one  from  each  State  and 
Territory,  to  be  chosen  by  ballot,  to  make  needed  verbal  changes 
in  the  Declaration  of  Faith,  was  ordered;  and  the  motion  prevailed. 

It  was  further  moved  to  amend  the  motion  thus  brought  back 
to  the  consideration  of  the  Council  by  fixing  the  number  of  the 
committee  at  three,  and  changing  the  mode  of  their  appointment  to 
nomination  by  the  Moderator  and  his  two  assistants. 

Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  of  Massachusetts,  asked  leave  to  present  the 
following  protest,  and  that  it  be  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the  min- 
utes.   And  leave  was  granted,  and  the  record  ordered: 
Mr.  Moderator, 

Standing  over  the  ashes  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  on  the  sum- 
mit of  this  Hill  consecrated  to  their  memory,  I  solemnly  protest 
against  the  adoption  of  the  paper  here  and  now  presented,  as  being 
too  sectarian  for  their  catholic  spirit,  and  too  narrow  to  comprehend 
the  breadth  of  their  principles  of  Religious  Freedom. 

GEO.  ALLEN. 

Dr.  Quint  was  far-sighted  enough  to  realize  the  import- 
ance of  the  Burial  Hill  Confession,  and  also  not  to  over-rate 
it.  In  the  January  1866  number  of  the  Congregational  Quar- 
terly he  summarized  the  work  of  the  Council  in  a  report  begin- 
ing  as  follows: 


THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  157 

"Amid  the  daily  business  of  a  body  such  as  our  Council 
of  1865,  it  is  difficult  to  discern  clearly  the  great  object  in 
view.  The  necessary  working?  machinery,  however  simple,  is 
prominent ;  minor  or  collateral  questions  are  being  discussed ; 
the  shaping  of  various  measures  confines  the  attention.  To  have 
a  comprehensive  view  of  its  action,  we  must  wait  until  the 
work  has  become  completed,  and  the  subordinate  ])ai-ts  group 
themselves  into  their  natural  relations  to  the  main  purpose. 
Where  chui-ch  courts  or  congresses  meet  from  year  to  year,  a 
strict  imity  is  not  to  be  expected.  They  transact  ' '  business. ' ' 
Our  Council  met  for  a  specific  object;  it  was  called  because 
the  occasion  demanded  it,  and  not  because  the  usual  time  had 
come  round  again.  Hence  it  ought  to  have  worked  to  a  central 
purpose.  We  think  it  did.  Looking  back,  now,  upon  it,  its 
proceedings  display  a  clear  and  simple  unity.  We  think  we 
recognize  God's  hand  in  this,  and  we  praise  him  for  the  re- 
sults we  expect,  and  which  seem  already  to  begin. 

"We  venture,  for  historical  use,  to  group  the  actions  of 
the  Council,  in  this  light. 

"The  great  object  of  this  convocation  was  well  indicated 
in  the  vote  of  the  '  Convention  of  the  Congregational  Churches 
of  the  North- West,'  which  was  the  first  formal  suggestion  of 
such  a  meeting:  for  'the  Congregational  churches  of  the 
United  States  to  inquire  what  is  their  duty  in  this  vast  and 
solemn  crisis,  such  as  comes  only  once  in  ages ;  and  what  new 
efforts,  measures,  and  polities  they  may  owe  to  this  condition 
of  affairs,  this  new  genesis  of  nations.' 

"A  preliminary  meeting  of  delegates,  appointed  for  that 
sole  purpose,  issued  the  invitation,  and  also  ventured  to  ask 
various  persons  to  prepare  papers  on  different  subjects  relat- 
ing to  the  main  purpose.  The  invitation  to  the  churches  was 
accepted,  and  the  Council  came  into  being. 

"There  was  of  course  a  necessary  amount  of  friction  in 
the  organizing ;  but  it  was  slight.  Considering  that  we  had  no 
precedents  ecclesiastical,  and  hardly  an  approach  to  such  a 


158     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

meeting  since  1680,  the  common  sense  of  the  delegates  was  the 
only,  but  safe,  reliance.  Such  rules  were  adopted  as  seemed 
necessary ;  but  none  which  interfered  with  entire  orderly  free- 
dom. Such  officers  and  such  committees  were  chosen  as  were 
needed,  and  no  more. 

"In  prosecuting,  as  a  denomination,  the  great  work  of 
evangelizing  this  nation,  the  first  thing  settled  (not  in  the  or- 
der of  time,  but  of  nature),  was  tJie<  doctrinal  basis  of  the  de- 
nomination. What  are  its  ministers  to  teach?  What  do  its 
churches  hold  ?  What  faith  are  its  messengers  to  carry  to  the 
people  ?  This  question  was  answered  in  the  paper  adopted  at 
Plymouth.  There  had  been  discussion,  free  and  full.  The 
paper  presented  by  the  preliminary  committee  had  been  re- 
ferred, and  a  new  draft  reported.  On  all  theplirases  in  that 
draft  there  was  not  unanimity,  although  there  was  as  to  its 
meaning.  A  paper  which  embodied  much  of  that,  but  in  a  new 
draft,  avoiding  the  language  which  had  excited  differences, 
proved  acceptable,  and  was  solemnly  adopted  and  again  rati- 
fied. 

' '  This  declaration  was  merely  a  declaration.  It  legislated 
no  new  faith  into  existence ;  but  simply  stated  Avhat  was  the 
permanent  and  united  belief  of  the  churches.  It  imposed  no 
tests  whatever.  It  said  only,  tliis  is  the  faith  which  we  hold, 
as  did  our  fathers.  Nothing  has  oecured  to  modify  our  belief 
in  the  substantial  truth  of  the  old  symbols." 

The  Burial  Hill  Confession  was  approved  by  the  National 
Council  as  no  other  confession  ever  had  been.  It  was  the  first 
home-made  confession  to  receive  the  approval  of  the  churches 
as  represented  in  a  national  gathering.  All  the  previous  Coun- 
cils, save  that  at  Albany  in  1852,  w^ere  confined  to  New  Eng- 
land ;  and  each  of  those  that  set  out  to  make  a  new  confession 
ended  by  adopting  one  ready-made,  and  leaving  its  acceptance 
more  or  less  elastic. 

But  while  the  Burial  Hill  Confession  was  made  to  order, 
it  did  not  wholly  stand  apart  as  an  independent  document. 


THE  BURIAL  HILL  CONFESSION  159 

In  it  the  National  Council  did  then  and  there  "reiterate  our 
adherence  to  the  faith  and  order  of  the  Apostolic  and  Primi- 
tive Churches  as  held  by  our  fathers,  and  as  substantially  em- 
bodied in  the  Confessions  and  Platforms  of  1G48  and  3G80  set 
forth  oi-  reaffiiTiied. "  It  was  and  still  is  an  ojx'U  (luestion 
whether  the  action  at  Burial  Hill;  did  more  to  f?ive  the  Con- 
gregational Churches  a  new  confession,  or  to  bind  its  faith 
anew  "for  substance  of  doctrine"  to  the  old  confessions.  There 
is  no  doubt  which  of  these  Dr.  Quint  intended  to  do.  But  / 
while  he  believed  in  the  value  of  a  new  confession,  he  felt  , 
the  value  of  historic  continuity,  and  also  the  force  of  the 
demand  that  the  creeds  of  the  past  have  appropriate  recogni- 
tion. 

Dr.  Quint  always  disclaimed  any  i)urpose  of  liiniling  the 
faith  of  the  churches  in  1865  to  the  forms  in  which  the  same 
essential  faith  expressed  itself  in  1648  and  1680.     Nothing  , 
brought  from  him  a  more  emphatic  denial  than  the  suggestion  ,, 
that  the  Burial  Hill  Declaration  was  a  reaffirmation  in  detail 
of  the  Confessions  of  1648  and  1680. 

The  Burial  Hill  Confession  did  two  things.  It  said  that 
the  faith  which  the  Pilgrims  of  1865  held  embodied  the  essen- 
tial truths  which  the  fathers  held.  They  held  what  the 
Pilgrims  held  in  the  sense  in  which  Beecher  called  himself  a 
Calvinist, — he  believed  ^\'hat  he  thought  Calvin  v^^ould  have  I 
believed  if  Calvin  were  now  living!  That  is  about  the  sense 
in  which  the  Burial  Hill  Confession  reaffirmed  the  Confes- 
sions of  1648  and  1680,  and  in  that  sense  all  Congregational- 
ists  now  reaffirm  them.  Our  faith  goes  back  along  lines  of  a 
traceable  historic  development,  and  has  come  down  to  us 
through  these  channels.  As  honest  historians  we  recognize  it ; 
as  loyal  sons  of  the  Pilgrims  we  are  glad  of  it. 

But  the  Burial  Hill  Confession  did  another  thing.  It  pro- 
claimed that  these  older  confessions,  embodying  as  they  do  in 
the  terminology-  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  faith  whi<'h  has 
been  true  in  all  ages,  did  not  embodv  that  faith  in  the  fonii 


160    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

in  which,  modern  men  could  agree  in  the  expression  of  it. 
Therefore  it  formulated  a  new  creed,  which  set  forth,  quite 
hastily  and  imperfectly,  but  on  the  whole  very  admirably,  the 
faith  of  the  Pilgrims,  as  best  it  could  be  agreed  upon  by  a 
company  of  representative  Congregationalists  assembled  at 
Plymouth  in  1865,  and  feeling  the  emotions  of  the  historic 
surroundings,  and  the  relief  from  the  close  room  and  the  ten- 
sion of  the  debate.  That  little  confession  embodied  the  sub- 
stance of  the  confessions  of  1648  and  1680,  and  the  opposing 
views  of  two  differently  minded  committees,  together  with  the 
happy  phraseology  of  the  introduction  which  the  car-wheels 
jolted  out  of  Dr.  Quint's  pencil  as  he  wrote  on  top  of  his  hat. 
It  was  a  very  good  confession,  and  mxich  better  made  than 
most  of  the  great  creeds  of  the  Church.  If  Dr.  Quint's  hat 
is  not  preserved  in  the  Congregational  Library  in  Boston,  let 
us  at  least  hope  that  his  spirit  survives  in  the  younger  men 
who  knew  and  honored  him,  and  who  learned  both  polity  and 
doctrine  in  discourse  with  him. 


V.    THE  OBERLIN  DECLARATION 

What,  is  known  as  tho  Obcrlin  Declaration  is  not  in  any 
proper  sense  a  Creed.  The  National  Council  of  1871  was 
called  on  the  district  provision  in  its  letter  missive  that  the 
Burial  Hill  Declaration  should  be  the  doctrinal  basis  of  the 
National  Council.  Had  that  Council  followed  tlie  precedents 
of  councils  pro  re  nata,  it  would  have  had  to  i-eniain  so ;  for 
no  such  council  can  change  the  letter  missive,  which  is  the 
charter  of  the  Council.  But  at  the  very  outset  the  National  i 
Council  became  a  law  unto  itself,  and  refused  to  accept  this 
condition  of  its  organization.  This  is  a  matter  of  such  im- 
portance as  to  justify  the  quotation  in  full  of  the  official  rec- 
ords preliminary  to  the  organization  of  the  National  Council 
of  1871 : 

On  the  approach  of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrimage,  at  Ply- 
mouth, Mass.,  invited  the  churches  to  meet  by  delegates  at  New 
York,  to  consider  the  appropriateness  of  particular  action  in  cele- 
brating this  fifth  jubilee.  Such  a  meeting  was  held  March  2,  1870; 
and  it  appointed  a  general  committee  for  its  purposes,  consisting 
of  Hon.  Edward  S.  Tobey,  Rev.  William  W.  Patton,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
Henry  M.  Dexter,  D.  D.,  Samuel  Holmes,  A.  S.  Barnes,  Rev.  Ray 
Palmer,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Alonzo  H.  Quint,  D.  D.;  of  which,  the  first 
named  was  chairman,  Rev.  Dr.  Dexter,  secretary,  and  Mr.  Holmes, 
Treasurer. 

Among  the  acts  of  this  committee  was  the  calling  of  a  Pilgrim 
Memorial  Convention,  which  met  at  Chicago,  111.,  April  27,  1870, 
open  to  delegates  from  all  the  churches  in  the  United  States. 

Of  that  convention,  B.  W.  Tompkins,  of  Connecticut,  was  Moder- 
ator; Hon.  E.  D.  Holton,  of  Wisconsin,  Rev.  Samuel  Wolcott,  D.  D., 
of  Ohio,  and  Rev.  George  F.  Magoun,  of  Iowa,  Vice  Moderators; 
Rciv.  Henry  C.  Abernethy,  of  Illinois,  Rev.  Philo  R.  Hurd,  D.  D.,  of 
Michigan,  and  Rev.  L.  Smith  Hobart,  of  New  York,  Seci-etaries; 
and  Rev.  William  W.  Patton,  D.  D.,  of  Illinois,  Dr.  Samuel  Holmes, 
of  New  York,  Hon.  C.  J.  Walker,  of  Michigan,  James  L.  Kearnie,  of 
Missouri,  and  Rev.  Rowland  B.  Howard,  of  Illinois,  Business  Com- 
mittee. 

161 


162    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Among  the  resolutions  adopted  at  that  large  convention  were 
the  following: — 

Resolved,  That  this  Pilgrim  Memorial  Convention  recommended 
to  the  Congregational  State  Conferences  and  Associations,  and  to 
other  local  bodies,  to  unite  in  measures  for  instituting  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  fellowship,  excluding  ecclesiastical  authority,  a  permanent 
National  Conference. 

The  General  Conference  of  Ohio  was  the  first  to  propose  definite 
action.  That  Conference  appointed  a  committee  (Rev.  A.  Hastings 
Ross  being  made  chairman)  to  correspond  with  the  other  State 
organizations  and  propose,  a  convention  to  mature  the  plan.  The 
several  State  organizations  approved  of  the  proposed  National  or- 
ganization, and  appointed  committees.  The  General  Association  of 
New  York  proposed  that  a  meeting  of  these  committees  be  held  in 
Boston,  December  21,  1870,  and  its  committee  (Rev.  L.  Smith  Hobart, 
chairman)  issued  circulars  to  that  effect.  The  Committee  of  the 
General  Association  of  Masachusetts  adopted  the  proposal,  and 
issued  invitations  accordingly.  The  oflicial  record  of  that  conven- 
tion is  herewith  given. 

In  accordance  with  a  call  issued  by  a  committee  of  the  General 
Association  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  Masachusetts,  upon 
suggestion  of  the  General  Association  of  New  York,  Committees 
appointed  by  the  several  General  Associations  and  Conferences  in 
the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  a  National  Council,  assembled 
in  the  Congregational  Library  Room,  Boston,  Mass.,  December  21, 
1870,  at  12  o'clock,  noon. 

Rev.  Alonzo  H.  Quint,  D.  D.,  of  Massachusetts,  called  the  con- 
vention to  order,  and  read  the  invitation  under  which  the  committees 
had  convened. 

Rev.  L.  Smith  Hobart,  of  New  York,  Rev,  Charles  Seccombe,  of 
Minnesota,  and  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Leach,  of  New  Hampshire,  were  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  nominate  oflBcers.  They  reported  the  follow- 
ing nominees,  who  were  unanimously  elected:  — 

Rev.  Edwin  B.  Webb,  D.  D.,  of  Massachusetts,  Moderator;  Hon. 
Amos  C.  Barstow,  of  Rhode  Island,  Assistant  Moderator;  Rev. 
William  E.  Merriman,  of  Wisconsin,  Scribe;  and  Hon.  Henry  S. 
McCall,   of  New   York,   Assistant   Scribe. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Moderator. 

The  roll  of  delegates  was  made  out,  and  as  completed  in  the 
further  sessions  of  the  convention,  is  as  follows: — 

Maine. — Rev.  Benj.  Tappan;  Rev.  Charles  C.  Parker,  D.  D. 

New  Hampshire. — Rev.  Josiah  G.  Davis,  D.  D.;  Rev.  Franklin 
D.  Ayre;  Rev.  Cyrus  W.  Wallace,  D.  D.;  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Leach; 
Rev.  George  M.  Adams;  Rev.  Henry  E.  Parker. 

Massachusetts. — Rev.  Alonzo  H.  Quint,  D.  D.;  Rev.  Samuel  T. 
Seelye,  D.  D.;  Rev.  Edwin  B.  Webb,  D.  D.;  Hon.  Charles  Stoddard; 
Hon.  S.  Angler  Chace. 

Rhode  Island. — Rev.  James  G.  Vose;  Rev.  James  H.  Lyon;  Hon. 
P.  W.  Bicknell;  Hon.  Amos  C.  Barstow;  Rev.  Francis  Horton. 

Connecticut. — Rev.  Davis  S.  Brainerd;  Rev.  Robert  G.  Vermilye, 
D.  D.;  Rev.  Edward  W.  Oilman;  Bro.  Ralph  D.  Smith;  Rev.  Leonard 
Bacon,  D.  D.;  Bro.  Calvin  Day. 


THE   OBERLIN   DECLARATION  163 

New  York.— Rev.  L.  Smith  Hobart;  Hon.  Henry  S.  McCall;  Rev. 
William   I.   Budington,  D.  D. 

New  Jersey. — Dea.  Samuel  Holmes. 

Ohio.— Rev.  George  W.  Phillips;  Rev.  Hiram  Mead;  Rev.  Israel 
W.  Andrews,  D.  D. 

Michigan. — Rev.  Jesse  W.  Hough. 

Minnesota. — Rev.  Charles  Seccombe;  Rev.  Jas.  W.  Strong. 

Wisconsin. — Rev.  William  E.  Merriman. 

Rev.  Dr.  Quint  read  the  substance  of  the  action  taken  by  the 
several  State  Conferences  on  the  subject  of  a  National  Council,  and 
moved  the  following: — 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient,  and  appears  clearly  to  be  the 
voice  of  the  churches,  that  a  National  Council  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  the  United  States  be  organized. 

After  full  discussion,  in  which  delegates  from  all  the  States 
represented  expressed  their  views,  the  resolution  was  unanimously 
adopted.  ..  i 

The  convention  took  a  recess  of  half  an  hour. 

On  re-assembling,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed,  to  whom  shall 
be  referred  all  suggestions  or  papers,  and  who  shall  report  in  proper 
draft  what  is  necessary  to  the  organization  of  a  National  Council. 

The  following  brethren  were  appointed  the  committee:  — 

Rev.  Alonzo  H.  Quint,  D.  D.,  of  Massachusetts;  Rev.  William  E. 
Merriman,  of  Wisconsin;  Dea.  Samuel  Holmes,  of  New  Jersey;  Rev. 
George  W.  Phillips,  of  Ohio;  and  Hon.  F.  W.  Bicknell,  of  Rhode 
Island. 

Informal  discussion  followed,  on  various  points  submitted  to 
the  committee;  and  the  convention  adjourned  to  meet  to-morrow 
at  QVi  o'clock,  A.  M. 

Thursday,  December  22,  1870. 

The  convention  re-assembled  at  9^/^  o'clock,  A.  M.  Prayer  was 
offered  by  Rev.  Dr.  Seelye,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hobart, 
of  New  York. 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  draft  of  action  necessary 
to  the  organization  of  National  Council,  reported.  Their  report 
was  accepted,  and  considered  article  by  article.  After  some  amend- 
ment, it  was  unanimously  adopted,  as  follows: 

Resolved,  1.  That  it  is  expedient,  and  appears  clearly  to  be  the 
voice  of  the  churches,  that  a  National  Council  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  the  United  States  be  organized. 

Resolved,  2.  That  the  churches  are  hereby  invited  to  meet  in 
Council,  by  delegates,  to  form  such  an  organization,  and  constitute 
its  first  session  at  a  place  and  time  to  be  settled  by  a  committee 
hereafter  to  be  appointed,  who  shall  give  public  notice  thereof;  and 
that  delegates  be  appointed  in  number  and  manner  as  follows: 
(1.)  That  the  churches  assembled  in  their  local  conferences,  ap- 
point one  delegate  for  every  ten  churches  In  their  respective  organi- 
zations, and  one  for  a  fraction  of  ten  greater  than  one-half;  It  being 
understood  that  wherever  the  churches  of  any  State  are  directly 
united  in  a  General  Association  or  Conference,  they  may,  at  their 


164     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

option,  appoint  the  delegates  in  the  above  ratio  in  General  Confer- 
ence, instead  of  in  local  Conferences.  (2.)  That  in  addition  to  the 
above,  the  churches  united  in  any  General  Association  or  Confer- 
ence, appoint  by  such  Association,  one  delegate,  and  one  for  each 
ten  thousand  communicants  in  their  fellowship,  and  one  for  a  major 
fraction  thereof.  (3.)  That  the  number  of  delegates  be,  in  all  cases, 
divided  between  ministers  and  lay-men,  as  nearly  equally  as  Is 
possible. 

Resolved,  3.  That  a  committee,  consisting  of  seven  persons,  be 
appointed  to  prepare  the  draft  of  a  proposed  Constitution  for  the 
National  Council,  to  be  submitted  for  consideration  at  the  meeting 
now  called,  and  to  be  previously  published  in  season  for  consider- 
ation at  the  meeting  now  called,  and  to  be  previously  published  in 
season  for  consideration  by  the  churches,  and  that  that  committee 
be  governed  by  the  following  directions: 

(1.)  That  the  name  be  as  above. 

(2.)  That  reference  be  made  to  the  Declaration  of  Faith  set 
forth  at  Plymouth,  in  the  year  1865,  as  the  doctrinal  basis. 

(3.)  That  a  declaration  be  made  of  the  two  cardinal  principles 
of  Congregationalism,  viz.:  the  exclusive  right  and  power  of  the 
individual  churches  to  self-government;  and  the  fellowship  of  the 
churches  one  with  another,  with  the  duties  growing  out  of  that 
fellowship,  and  especially  the  duty  of  general  consultation  in  all 
matters  of  common  concern  to  the  whole  body  of  churches. 

(4.)  That  the  churches  withhold  from  the  National  Council  all 
legislative  or  judicial  power  over  churches  or  individuals,  and  all 
right  to  act  as  a  Council  of  Reference. 

(5.)  That  the  objects  of  the  organization  be  set  forth  substan- 
tially as  follows: — 

To  express  and  foster  the  substantial  unity  of  our  churches  in 
doctrine,  polity,  and  work;  and 

To  consult  upon  the  common  interests  of  all  our  churches,  their 
duties  in  the  work  of  evangelization,  the  united  development  of  their 
resources,  and  their  relations  to  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

(6.)  That  the  number  and  manner  of  electing  delegates  be  as 
now  adopted  in  calling  the  first  meeting. 

(7.)  That  the  session  be  held  once  in years. 

(8.)  To!  provide  as  simple  an  organization,  with  as  few  officers, 
and  with  as  limited  duties  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  efficiency 
of  the  Council  in  advancing  the  principles  and  securing  the  objects 
of  the  proposed  organization. 

Resolved,  4.  That  the  churches  throughout  the  country  be  no- 
tified of  the  action  of  this  convention,  and  be  requested  to  authorize 
their  representatives  in  conferences  to  choose  delegates  as  above. 

Voted,  That  this  committee  be  directed  to  determine  the  time 
and  place  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  Council,  and  issue  the  call. 

Voted,  That  this  committee  be  instructed  to  recommend  a  mode 
of  providing  for  the  expenses  of  delegates  to  the  National  Council. 

Voted,  That  thanks  be  returned  to  the  brethren  in  Boston,  for 
their  abundant  hospitalities. 


t:HE  OBERLIN   declaration  165 

Voted,  That  the  convention  expresses  to  the  directors  of  the 
American  Congregational  Association  its  sense  of  the  value  of  the 
library  rooms  as  a  place  of  meeting. 

Voted,  That  an  official  copy  of  these  proceedings  be  published 
in  religious  periodicals. 

The  following  persons  were  then  chosen,  by  ballot,  the  com- 
mittee to  prepare  the  draft  of  proposed  constitution,  as  ordered  in 
the  third  resolve: — 

Rev.  Alonzo  H.  Quint,  D.  D.,  of  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts, 
(Chairman.) 

Rev.  Pros.  V«'illiam  E.  Mcrriman,  of  Ripon,  Wisconsin. 

Rev.  Prof.  Samuel  C.  Bartlett,  D.  D.,  of  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Dea.  Samuel  Holmes,  of  Montclair,  New  Jersey. 

Major-General  Oliver  O.  Howard,  of  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia. 

Rev.  William  I.  Budington,  D.  D.,  of  Brooklyn,  New  York. 

Hon.  Amos  C.  Barstow,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

After  prayer,  the  convention  adjourned  sine  die. 

EDW^IN  B.  WEBB,  Moderator. 

William  E.  Merriman,  Scribe. 

The  Preliminary  Committee  decided  to  accept  an  invitation  from 
the  churches  in  Oberlin,  Ohio,  and  issued  the,  call  of  a  National 
Council  to  meet  there  November  15,  1871. — Minutes  of  National 
Council  of  1871,  pp.  7-12. 

The  Oberlin  Declaration  is  contained  part  in  the  Pre- 
amble to  the  Constitution  of  the  National  Council  as  thus 
adopted  and  in  part  on  the  Declaration  of  Unity  which  was 
adopted,  and  ordered  "printed  in  close  proximity  to  the  Con- 
stitution. ' ' 

CONSTITUTION 
[Adopted  Nov.  17,  1871.] 

Preamble  to  the  Constitution. 

The  Congregational  churches  of  the  United  States,  by  elders 
and  messengers  assembled,  do  now  associate  themselves  in  National 
Council, — 

To  express  and  foster  their  substantial  unity  in  doctrine,  polity, 
and  work;  and 

To  consult  upon  the  common  interests  of  all  the  churches,  their 
duties  in  the  work  of  evangelization,  the  united  development  of 
their  resources,  and  their  relations  to  all  parts  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ. 

They  agree  in  belief  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  sufficient 
and  only  infallible  rule  of  religious  faith  and  practice,  their  inter- 
pretation thereof  being  in  substantial  accordance  with  the  great 
doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith,  commonly  called  evangelical,  held 


166    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

in  our  churches  from  the  early  times,  and  sufficiently  set  forth  by 
former  General  Councils. 

They  agree  in  belief  that  the  right  of  government  resides  in 
local  churches,  or  congregations  of  believers  who  are  responsible 
directly  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  one  head  of  the  Church  Uni- 
versal and  of  all  particular  churches;  but  that  all  churches,  being 
in  communion  one  with  another  as  parts  of  Christ's  catholic  church, 
have  mutual  duties  subsisting  in  the  obligations  of  fellowship. 

The  churches,  therefore,  while  establishing  this  National  Coun- 
cil for  the  furtherance  of  the  common  interests  and  work  of  all  the 
churches,  do  maintain  the  scriptural  and  inalienable  right  of  each 
church  to  self-government  and  administration;  and  this  National 
Council  shall  never  exercise  legislative  or  judicial  authority,  nor 
consent  to  act  as  a  council  of  reference. 

DECLARATION  OF  THE  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
[Adopted  in  1871.] 

The  members  of  the  National  Council,  representing  the  Congre- 
gational churches  of  the  United  States,  avail  themselves  of  this 
opportunity  to  renew  their  previous  declarations  of  faith  in  the 
unity  of  the  Church  of  God. 

While  affirming  the  liberty  of  our  churches,  as  taught  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  inherited  by  us  from  our  fathers,  and  from 
martyrs  and  confessors  of  foregoing  ages,  we  adhere  to  this  liberty 
all  the  more  as  affording  the  ground  and  hope  of  a  more  visible 
unity  in  time  to  come.  "We  desire  and  propose  to  co-operate  with  all 
the  churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  expression  of  the  same  catholic  sentiments  solemnly 
avowed  by  the  Council  of  1865  on  the  Burial  Hill  at  Plymouth,  we 
wish,  at  this  new  epoch  of  our  history,  to  remove,  so  far  as  in  us 
lies,  all  causes  of  suspicion  and  alienation,  and  to  promote  the 
growing  unity  of  council  and  of  the  effort  among  the  followers  of 
Christ.  To  us,  as  to  our  brethren,  "There  is  one  body  and  one 
spirit,  even  as  we  are  called  in  one  hope  of  our  calling." 

As  little  as  did  our  fathers  in  their  day,  do  we  in  ours,  make  a 
pretension  to  be  only  churches  of  Christ.  We  find  ourselves  con- 
sulting and  acting  together  under  the  distinctive  name  of  Congrega- 
tionalists,  because  in  the  present  condition  of  our  common  Chris- 
tianity we  have  felt  ourselves  called  to  ascertain  and  to  do  our 
own  appropriate  part  of  the  work  of  Christ's  Church  among  men. 

We  especially  desire,  in  prosecuting  the  common  work  of  evan- 
gelizing our  own  land  and  the  world,  to  observe  the  common  and 
sacred  law,  that,  in  the  wide  field  of  the  world's  evangelization,  we 
do  our  work  in  friendly  co-operation  with  all  those  who  love  and 
serve  our  common  Lord. 

We  believe  in  "the  holy  catholic  Church".  It  is  our  prayer  and 
endeavor  that  the  unity  of  the  Church  may  be  more  and  more  ap- 
parent, and  that  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  for  his  disciples  may  be 
speedily  and  completely  answered,  and  all  be  one;  that  by  conse- 
quence of  this  Christian  unity  in  love,  the  world  may  believe  in 
Christ  as  sent  of  the  Father  to  save  the  world. 


THE   OBERLIN   DECLARATION  167 

Following  18  Dr.  Quint's  report  of  the  Council  of  1871, 
and  of  the  preparation  and  purport  of  the  Declaration  of 
Faith : 

''The  Preliminary  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  a 
draft  of  the  Constitution  were  expressly  instructed  to  insert  a 
reference  to  the  Plymouth  Declaration  of  1865,  as  the  expres- 
sion of  faith.    They  reported  the  following  paragraph : — 

They  [the  churches]  agree  in  belief  that  the  Holy  Scriptures 
are  the  sufficient  and  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice;  their  under- 
standing of  the  doctrines  thereof,  and  their  harmony  with  other 
parts  of  the  church  universal,  being  sufficiently  expressed  in  the 
declaration  of  faith  set  forth  in  National  Council  at  Plymouth  in 
the  year  1865. 

''The  declaration  thus  referred  to  consisted,  mainly,  of 
two  parts,  (1)  a  statement  of  our  denominational  doctrinal 
views,  and  (2),  a  statement  of  doctrine  in  which  we  are  in 
harmony  with  other  parts  of  the  church.  The  fii'st  was  specific, 
a  reaffirmation  "  sul>stantially "  of  our  old  confessions.  The 
second  embraced  only  the  general  doctrines  of  the  church. 

The  first  sentence  of  the  paragraph  reported  at  Obcrlin 
received  some  verbal  amendments.  The  second  sentence  met 
with  decided  criticism.  Objection  was  made  to  a  reference 
to  a  document  not  familiar,  and  which  itself  refen-cd  the 
reader  back  to  two  other  documents, — an  objection  which  had 
force.  But  the  real  objection  found  utterance  in  a  motion  to 
add  the  words  "as  follows,"  and  then  quote  from  the  declar- 
ation of  1865,  the  section  containing  its  second  statement,  viz. ; 
our  harmony  with  other  parts  of  the  church.  But  this  would 
have  taken  a  pai-t  as  if  it  were  the  whole,  and  would  have  made 
the  whole  paragraph  inconsistent  in  its  parts.  Various  amend- 
ments were  offered,  and  many  others  Avere  waiting  to  be  in 
order,  when  the  particular  session  ended.  On  re-assembling, 
it  was  voted  (on  motion  of  the  chairman  of  the  preliminary 
committee  which  had  I'epoi-tcd  the  paragraph)  to  refer  the 
report  and  proposed  amendments  to  a  special  conmiittee,  who 
should  also  consider  any  and  all  proposals  which  any  brother 


168    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

might  lay  before  them.  The  composition  of  that  committee, 
Professor  Bartlett,  Hon.  Elisha  Carpenter,  Hon.  C.  J.  Walker, 
Kev.  Dr.  Dwinell,  and  Rev.  Dr.  D.  T.  Fiske,  was  a  guarantee 
of  a  judicious  result.  They  reported  the  following  sub- 
stitute : — 

They  [the  churches]  agree  in  belief  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are 
the  sufficient  and  only  infallible  rule  of  religious  faith  and  practice; 
their  interpretation  thereof  being  in  substantial  accordance  with  the 
great  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith  commonly  called  evangelical, 
held  in  our  churches  from  early  times,  and  sufllciently  set  forth  by 
former  general  Councils. 

"And  this  statement  was  at  once  and  unanimously 
adoped. 

''It  is  only  right  to  state  that  an  article  by  the  learned 
chairman  [Dr.  Bartlett]  of  the  committee  which  reported  this 
amendment,  states  that  the  intent  of  the  committee  was  that 
the  "interpretation"  is  "in  accordance  with,"  "that  is,  con- 
formed to,  moulded  and  governed  by — the  evangelical  doc- 
trines. ' '  He  does  not  regard  the  intent  of  the  vote  to  be  what 
we  do.  We  looked  rather  to  the  distinction  between  an  exJiaus- 
tive  statement  of  views  held  by  our  churches,  and  a  statement 
of  faith  sufficient  for  this  practical  union ;  and  that,  not  the 
former,  but  the  latter,  was  intended.  As  an  exhaustive  state- 
ment, many  members  would  have  steadily  opposed  it.  As  a 
basis  of  union,  they  were  willing  to  concede  it.  And  the  mod- 
erator of  the  Council  has  expressed  opinions  agreeing  Avith  the 
sentiment  of  this  article. 

"That  this  literally  sets  aside  our  old  Confessions,  is  not 
apparent.  It  says  that  'our  interpretation'  is  in  'substantial 
accordance  Avith  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith 
commonly  called  evangelical ; '  but  this  we  have  ahvaj^s  said. 
The  statement  is  not  a  creed;  it  merely  indicates  a  position. 
It  can  easily  be  received  as  meaning  only,  that  our  'interpre- 
tation' is  not  limited  by  the  'evangeliear  faith,  but  merely 
accords  with  it,  and  may  go  beyond  it.  It  is  to  be  remembered 
that  this  article  does  not  purpose  to  define  fully  the  faith  of 


THE   OBERLIN   DECLARATION  169 

the  churches,  but  the  basis  of  union.  It  is  explanatory  of  the 
first  sentence;  viz.,  that  the  churches  associate  themselves  in 
National  Council.  And,  as  to  the  basis  of  union,  we  believe 
that  the  honest  intent  of  the  vote  by  the  Council  was  to  make 
this  union  rest  on  the  common  evangelical  faith,  and  not  on 
any  of  the  (minor)  peculiarities  which  have  distinguished  us, 
as  a  whole,  from  other  parts  of  the  church  catholic.  And  it 
implies  a  re-affirmation  of  what  has  been  'set  forth  by  former 
general  councils."  .so  far  as  they  declare  the  common  evangeli- 
cal doctrines.  We  supposed  that  the  phrase  'in  substantial 
accordance  with,'  meant  that  the  common  evangelical  faith 
and  this  basis  of  union  were  substantially  one.  If  so,  it  is 
really  a  declaration  of  adherence  to  the  historic  faith  of  the 
church  of  Christ,  as  being  a  sufficient  basis  of  denominational 
unity. 

"This  does  not  alter  the  faith  of  any  church.  Every  one 
will  hold  the  evangelical  doctrines  in  its  own  preferred  cast. 
It  does  not  mean  a  compromise  which  is  to  omit  everything  to 
which  any  individual  Christian  objects.  The  evangelical  doc- 
trines are  perfectly  well  defined.  But  the  denomination  de- 
clines to  commit  itself  to  the  defence  of  any  man's  peculiar- 
ities,—Edwards,  Hopkins,  Emmons,  Taylor,  Tyler,  or  anybody 
else-,  or  to  the  defence  of  any  particular  Confession  as  against 
any  other  great  Confession.  Variations  from  the  well-known 
common  faith  of  the  Christian  church,  are  left  to  their  own 
adherents. 

"This  is  a  broad,  catholic  basis.  We  do  not  bind  ourselves 
by  any  provincial  creeds  or  teachers.  All  the  great  Confesr 
sions  are  in  substantial  accord  as  to  essentials.  In  fact,  the 
'Heads  of  Agreement'  put  the  doctrinal  part  of  the  Articles 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  Westminister,  and  the  Savoy, 
as  equally  satisfactory.  Cotton  blather  says  our  churches 
'took  all  the  occasions  imaginable  to  make  all  the  world  know, 
that  in  the  doctrinal  part  of  religion  they  have  agreed  entirely 
with  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Europe.     And  that  they  de- 


170    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

sired  most  particularly  to  maintain  the  faith  professed!  by  the 
churches  of  Old  England.'  This  catholic  basis  is  therefore  no 
novelty.  Instead  of  throwing  away  the  substance  of  any  Con- 
fession, we  really  recognize  the  essential  faith  of  the  Christian 
church  which  is  in  all  Confessions.  We  refuse  to  be  a  sect, 
and  we  are  loyal  to  the  common  faith. 

"This  is  a  great  step,  therefore,  towards  Christian  union. 
It  tells  all  Christian  people  that  we  will  not  make  our  pecul- 
iarities a  bar  to  the  union  of  the  separated  parts  of  Christ's 
divided  church.  We  can  welcome  union  on  the  simple  basis 
of  the  common  faith.  Whatever  the  immediate  result  may  be, 
an  act  like  this  of  a  powerful  denomination  must  eventually 
bear  fruit,  and  in  the  mean  time  we  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  our  churches  have  done  the  right  thing  for 
Christian  union. 

"It  removes  difficulties  in  the  way  of  evangelization. 
Probably  many  of  us  little  understand  how  our  laborers  have 
been  pelted  with  hard  phrases  out  of  the  old  Confessions,  and 
especially  in  localities  where  union  is  indispensable  to  make 
one  efficient  church.  True,  our  denomination  has  never  done 
more  than  to  accept,  for  substance,  any  Confession ;  but  that 
awkward  word  'substantially,'  is  a  very  hard  word  to  make 
people  understand,  particularly  if  they  do  not  want  to  under- 
stand it.  Doubtless  a  man,  in  any  church  of  any  denomina- 
tion, who  accepts  literally,  just  as  a  plain  man  would  under- 
stand it,  every  phrase  in  the  Westminister,  would  be  a  rare 
specimen.  The  churches  have  never  proposed  to  do  it.  They 
have  never,  in  any  synod,  imposed  a  creed  on  any  man's  con- 
science. But  every  troubler  has  felt  at  liberty  to  insist  that 
our  laborers  shall  defend  every  sentence  of  Confessions  which 
were  never  adopted  by  sentences.  For  ourselves,  we  can  con- 
tinue to  believe  and  teach  that  ' '  no  mere  man  since  the  fall  is 
able  in  this  life  perfectly  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God, ' 
— and  to  hold  to  this  'substantially,'  that  is,  just  as  it  means. 
But  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  insist  that  all  persons  in  fellow- 


THE  OBERLIN  DECLARATION  171 

ship  shall  hold  to  this  real  inability,  which  the  Confession 
makes  'utterly  indisposed,  disabled,  and  made  opposite  to  all 
good.'  A  real  inability  and  a  'moral'  inability  are  not  causes 
of  division,  while  the  necessity  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  held  by  all. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  had  come  to  this  years  ago.  We 
believe  that  our  rapidly-increasing  Missouri  churches  are 
practically  organized  on  the  'common'  section  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  1865.  We  think  that  our  Southern  work  is  on  the 
same  basis.  That  is,  we  organize  Christian  churches  on  the 
old  Congregational  theory  that  the  Christians  of  any  locality 
should  form  the  church  of  that  locality.  The  new  Kentucky 
churches  were  represented  at  Oberlin,  and  are  Congregational 
in  form,  purelj^  'Christian'  in  doctrine.  As  to  'Old  School' 
and  '  New  School, '  this  distinction  was  not  at  issue  in  the  Ober- 
lin Council;  as  obsolete,  so  far  as  fellowship  is  concerned,  as 
it  is  in  the  Presbyterian  church.  The  distinction  was  a  differ- 
ent one;  whether  special  Confessions  of  Faith  should  be  re- 
affirmed as  a  basis  of  union,  in  such  parts  as  distinguish  them 
from  the  historic  faith  of  the  Christian  church.  The  churches 
in  Council  decided  to  say,  what  they  have  been  steadily  doing. 

"Possibly  some  may  fear  that  this  basis  is  too  broad  for 
safety.  If  they  do,  we  can  look  at  the  intent  of  the  words 
'former  general  Councils.'  What  did  they  consider  to  be  the 
common  evangelical  faith?  The  Council  of  1865  was  one  of 
the  '  former  General  Councils. '  What  it  says  of  the  '  common 
faith'  is  therefore  pertinent.    We  quote  it: 

With  them  we  confess  our  faith  in  God,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  only  living  and  true  God;  in  Jesus  Christ, 
the  incarnate  Word,  who  is  exalted  to  be  our  Redeemer  and  King; 
and  in  the  Holy  Comforter,  who  is  present  in  the  church  to  regen- 
erate and  sanctify  the  soul. 

With  the  whole  church,  we  confess  the  common  sinfulness  and 
ruin  of  our  race,  and  acknowledge  that  it  is  only  through  the  work 
accomplished  by  the  life  and  expiatory  death  of  Christ  that  believers 
in  him  are  justified  before  God,  receive  the  remission  of  sins,  and 
through  the  presence  and  grace  of  the  Holy  Comforter,  are  delivered 
from  the  power  of  sin,  and  perfected  in  holiness. 


172     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

We  believe,  also,  in  the  organized  and  visible  church,  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Word,  in  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper;  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  in  the  final  judgment, 
the  issues  of  which  are  eternal  life  and  everlasting  punishment. 

We  receive  these  truths  on  the  testimony  of  God,  given  through 
prophets  and  apostles,  and  in  the  life,  the  miracles,  the  death,  the 
resurrection,  of  His  Son,  our  divine  Redeemer, — a  testimony  pre- 
served for  the  church  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, which  were  composed  by  holy  men  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

"For  ourselves,  we  believe  the  basis  is  at  once  broad,  safe, 
and  prophetic  of  great  good  to  the  work  of  the  Ma.stci'.  If  it 
opens  the  door  to  all  manner  of  crude  notions,  as  some  inti- 
mate, we  fail  to  see  it.  It  by  no  means  intimates  that  our 
churches  have  no  peculiarities.  The  distinction  is  still  clear 
between  an  exhaustive  statement  of  all  our  doctrinal  views, 
and  a  statement  of  what  we  regard  as  a  sufficient  basis  of 
union.  As  to  ourselves,  it  does  not  say  that  the  Declaration  of 
1865  was  not  a  correct  representation.  It  does  not  leave  us 
without  Confessions,  nor  as  admitting  a  vague  and  indefinable 
sentiment  of  an  'Evangelical'  residuum  which  appears  after 
taking  out  all  that  any  one  objects  to.  The  faith  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  is  a  perfectly  well-defined  faith,  from  which  here- 
sies have  been  rejected.  And  we  prefer,  as  a  basis  of  union, 
the  catholic  faith,  not  modified  by  provincialism. 

"It  was  in  the  line  of  catholicity  that  the  Council  set  forth 
too  the  paper  on  the  unity  of  the  church,  to  accompany  its 
constitution." — Congregational  Quarterly,  1872. 


VI.    THE  CREED  OF  1883. 

Good  as  the  Burial  Hill  Confession  was,  its  limitations 
were  manifest.  As  the  years  went  by  it  beeame  increasingly 
evident  that  a  new  confession  of  faith  was  desirable.  Few 
local  churches  felt  like  adopting  the  Burial  Hill  Confession 
with  its  vague  allusions  to  the  confessions  of  1648  and  1680, 
New  churches  were  rising,  particularly  in  the  West,  and  call- 
ing for  brief  and  modern  confessions  of  faith.  The  demand 
found  voice  in  the  Ohio  Association,  meeting  at  Wellington 
in  May  of  1879,  setting  forth  the  deficiency  of  previous  declar- 
ations and  calling  upon  the  National  Council  to  create  "a 
formula  that  shall  not  be  mainly  a  re-affirmation  of  former 
confessions,  but  that  shall  state  in  precise  terms  in  our  living 
tongue  the  doctrines  which  we  hold  to-day."  The  National 
Council  which  convened  in  St.  Louis,  November  15,  1880,  ap- 
pointed twenty-five  commissioners  to  prepare  a  creed  in  ac- 
cordance with  this  and  similar  demands.  The  Council  chose 
the  following :  Pres.  Julius  H.  Seelye,  Prof.  Charles  M.  Mead, 
Rev.  Henry  M.  Dexter,  Rev.  Edmund  K.  Alden,  Rev.  Alexan- 
der McKenzie,  Rev.  James  E.  Johnson,  Prof.  George  P.  Fisher, 
Rev.  George  Leon  Walker,  Prof.  William  S.  Karr,  Prof.  George 
T.  Ladd,  Rev.  Samuel  P.  Leeds,  Rev.  David  B.  Coe,  Rev. 
William  M.  Taylor,  Rev.  L^Tiian  Abbott,  Rev.  Augustus  F. 
Beard,  Pres.  William  W.  Patton,  Pres.  James  H.  Fairchild, 
Pres.  Israel  W.  Andrews,  Rev.  Zachary  Eddy,  Pi'of.  James  T. 
Hyde,  Rev.  Edwin  P.  Goodwin,  Rev.  Alden  B.  Robbins,  Rev. 
Constans  L.  Goodell,  Rev.  Richard  Cordley,  and  Prof.  George 
Mooar. 

There  is  not  in  all  the  above  list  a  mean  or  unworthy 
name ;  and  the  list  as  a  whole  is  one  of  note  both  as  regards  the 

173 


174  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

scholarship  and  the  high  character  of  the  men  composing  it. 
The  Commission  devoted  itself  to  its  task  with  earnestness  and 
with  a  high  sense  of  responsibility  to  the  churches.  The  re- 
port was  presented  in  1883,  and  was  signed  by  all  but  three  of 
the  commissioners.  Rev.  Dr.  E.  P.  Goodwin,  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Chicago,  declined  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  been  unable  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Commission, 
but  it  is  probable  also  that  he  was  not  wholly  satisfied  with  its 
results.  Prof.  W.  S.  Karr  declined  to  sign  the  report  because 
the  Confession  did  not  adequately  represent  his  views.  The 
third  commissioner  who  withheld  his  signature  was  Rev.  E.  K. 
Alden,  secretary  of  the  American  Board.  His  motives  were 
high  and  worthy,  but  it  is  impossible  to  contemplate  his  at- 
titude toward  the  work  of  the  Commission  and  his  subsequent 
relation  to  the  American  Board  without  a  measure  of  genuine 
sorrow.  Dr.  Alden  felt  that  the  creed  was  wholly  inadequate 
as  an  expression  of  the  faith  to  be  preached  by  missionaries  of 
the  American  Board,  and  the  time  came  when  the  divergence 
of  his  view  from  that  of  the  denomination  as  a  whole  became 
indisputably  apparent,  and  resulted  in  his  retirement  from 
his  position  as  secretary  of  the  American  Board. 

The  Creed  of  1883  contains  twelve  articles,  following  the 
general  order  of  the  articles  in  the  historic  creeds.  Its  state- 
ments are  clear;  its  language  is  free  from  theological  subtle- 
ties; its  says  what  it  was  intended  to  say.  It  begins  wth  no 
reference  to  earlier  confessions,  but  stands  on  its  own  feet  as 
a  direct  and  comprehensive  statement  of  doctrine.  It  is  im- 
possible to  read  it  thoughtfully  without  increased  respect  for 
the  men  who  wrote  it  and  admiration  for  the  way  in  which 
they  performed  their  task.  Its  thought  and  language  are  mod- 
ern without  any  attempt  to  incorporate  transcient  phases  of 
current  thought.  It  sets  forth  the  great  doctrines  in  high 
relief,  and  is  singularly  free  from  obscurities  and  trivialities. 
It  is  altogether  admirable  in  its  sincerity,  its  clarity  and  its 
balance. 


THE  CREED   OF   1883  175 

The  churches  hailed  this  new  confession  with  great  satis- 
faction, and  hundreds  of  them  immediately  adopted  it.  It 
was  sharply  criticised  both  for  what  it  contained  and  what  it 
omitted.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  understand  why  any  one 
should  have  objected  to  it,  as  some  good  men  did,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  not  sufficiently  evangelical.  Gradually  the 
opposition  died  down,  and  its  place  already  secure  in  the  affec- 
tions of  the  Congregational  churches  became  unassailable. 

The  report  which  the  Commission  published  was  dated 
December  19,  1883,  and  with  its  publication,  the  work  of  the 
Commission  ceased.  It  was  hardly  referred  to  in  the  Council 
of  1886,  excepting  possibly  in  terms  of  censure  in  one  or  two 
of  the  addresses.  No  official  action  was  taken  concerning  it. 
It  made  its  way  by  reason  of  its  own  inherent  worth  and  the 
confidence  of  the  churches  in  the  men  who  had  wrought  it. 
And  it  made  its  way  surely,  in  the  face  of  adverse  criticism 
which  at  this  day  it  is  difficult  to  understand. 

But  by  the  time  people  ceased  objecting  to  the  Creed  of 
1883,  the  time  for  a  new  creed  had  come.  There  was  little  call 
and  less  occasion  for  a  confession  to  take  the  place  of  the 
Creed  of  1883 ;  but  there  was  a  growing  demand  for  a  confes- 
sion of  faith  more  brief  and  less  fonnal,  to  be  employed  for 
a  wide  variety  of  uses,  for  which  the  Creed  of  1883  was  not 
entirely  available.  The  Confession  of  Faith  adopted  by  the 
National  Council  at  Kansas  City  in  1913  came  at  a  time  when 
some  such  confession  was  needed.  If  it  shall  serve  its  purpose 
as  long  and  as  well  as  did  the  Creed  of  1883,  all  who  had  any 
share  in  its  preparation  or  adoption  Anil  have  sufficient  reason 
to  be  grateful. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  of  1883  contained  what  the 
Commission  called  a  Confession  of  Faith,  but  which  was  a 
proposed  fomi  of  admission  of  members  to  local  churches.  In 
that  form  of  admission,  the  creedal  statement  was  not  the  Creed 
of  1883,  but  the  Apostles'  Creed.  This  is  an  interesting  fact, 
and  shows  how  far  the  framers  of  the  Creed  of  1883  were  from 


176     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

expecting  or  desiring  that  their  creed  should  be  used  as  a  test 
of  fitness  for  church  membership.  The  form  of  admission  of 
members  was  hastily  prepared,  and  was  never  accounted  sat- 
isfactory, and  was  later  superseded  by  another  fonn,  not  much 
more  so.  But  the  report  here  given  is  that  of  the  Commission 
as  it  was  first  published,  including  the  very  brief  and  modest 
introduction  and  postscript,  the  Creed,  and  the  ' '  Confession  of 
Faith." 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  OF  1883 
TO  THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Commission  appointed  under 
the  direction  of  the  National  Council  of  the  Congregational  Churches 
of  the  United  States,  "to  prepare,  in  the  form  of  a  creed  or  cate- 
chism, or  both,  a  simple,  clear,  and  comprehensive  exposition  of  the 
truths  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  for  the  instruction 
and  edification  of  our  churches"  herewith  submit  to  the  churches 
the  following 

Statement  of  Doctrine: 

I.  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven 
and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible; 

And  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Lord,  who  is  of  one 
substance  with  the  Father;  by  whom  all  things  were  made; 

And  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  life,  who  is  sent 
from  the  Father  and  Son,  and  who  together  with  the  Father  and 
Son  is  worshiped  and  glorified. 

II.  We  believe  that  the  providence  of  God,  by  which  he  exe- 
cutes his  eternal  purposes  in  the  government  of  the  world,  is  in 
and  over  all  events;  yet  so  that  the  freedom  and  responsibility  of 
man  are  not  impaired,  and  sin  is  the  act  of  the  creature  alone. 

III.  We  believe  that  man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  that 
he  might  know,  love,  and  obey  God,  and  enjoy  him  forever;  that  our 
first  parents  by  disobedience  fell  under  the  righteous  condemnation 
of  God ;  and  that  all  men  are  so  alienated  from  God  that  there  is  no 
salvation  from  the  guilt  and  power  of  sin  except  through  God's  re- 
deeming grace. 

IV.  We  believe  that  God  would  have  all  men  return  to  him; 
that  to  this  end  he  has  made  himself  known,  not  only  through  the 
works  of  nature,  the  course  of  his  providence,  and  the  consciences 
of  men,  but  also  through  supernatural  revelations  made  especially 
to  a  chosen  people,  and  above  all,  when  the  fullness  of  time  was 
come,  through  Jesus  Christ  his  Son. 

V.  We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments are  the  record  of  God's  revelation  of  himself  in  the  work  of 
redemption;  that  they  were  written  by  men  under  the  special  guid- 


THE  CREED   OF   1883  177 

ance  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  that  they  are  able  to  make  wise  unto  salva- 
tion; and  that  they  constitute  the  authoritative  standard  by  which 
religious  teaching  and  human  conduct  are  to  be  regulated  and 
judged. 

VI.  We  believe  that  the  love  of  God  to  sinful  men  has  found  its 
highest  expression  in  the  redemptive  work  of  his  Son;  who  became 
man,  uniting  his  divine  nature  with  our  human  nature  in  one  per- 
son; who  was  tempted  like  other  men,  yet  without  sin;  who  by  his 
humiliation,  his  holy  obedience,  his  sufferings,  his  death  on  the 
cross,  and  his  resurrection,  became  a  perfect  Redeemer;  whose 
sacrifice  of  himself  for  the  sins  of  the  world  declares  the  righteous- 
ness of  God,  and  is  the  sole  and  sufficient  ground  of  forgiveness  and 
of  reconciliation  with  him. 

VII.  We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ,  after  he  had  risen  from  the 
dead,  ascended  into  heaven,  where,  as  the  one  mediator  between 
God  and  man,  he  carries  forward  his  work  of  saving  men;  that  he 
sends  the  Holy  Spirit  to  convict  them  of  sin,  and  to  lead  them  to 
repentance  and  faith,  and  that  those  who  through  renewing  grace 
turn  to  righteousness,  and  trust  in  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Redeemer, 
receive  for  his  sake  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  are  made  the 
children  of  God. 

VIII.  We  believe  that  those  who  are  thus  regenerated  and 
justified,  grow  in  sanctified  character  through  fellowship  with  Christ, 
the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  obedience  to  the  truth;  that  a 
holy  life  is  the  fruit  and  evidence  of  saving  faith;  and  that  the 
believer's  hope  of  continuance  in  such  a  life  is  ia  the  preserving 
grace  of  God  . 

IX.  We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  came  to  establish  among  men 
the  kingdom  of  God,  the  reign  of  truth  and  love,  righteousness  and 
peace;  that  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Head  of  this  kingdom.  Christians, 
are  directly  responsible  in  faith  and  conduct;   and  that  to  him  all 
have  immediate  access  without  mediatorial  or  priestly  intervention. 

X.  We  believe  that  the  Church  of  Christ,  invisible  and  spiritual, 
comprises  all  true  believers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  associate  themselves 
in  churches  for  the  maintenance  of  worship,  for  the  promotion  of 
spiritual  growth  and  fellowship,  and  for  the  conversion  of  men; 
that  these  churches,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and 
In  fellowship  with  one  another,  may  determine — each  for  itself — 
their  organization,  statements  of  belief,  and  forms  of  worship,  may 
appoint  and  set  apart  their  own  ministers,  and  should  co-operate 
in  the  work  which  Christ  has  committed  to  them  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  world. 

XI.  We  believe  in  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  as  a  day 
of  holy  rest  and  worship;  in  the  ministry  of  the  word;  and  in  the 
two  sacraments,  which  Christ  has  appointed  for  his  church:  Bap- 
tism, to  be  administered  to  believers  and  their  children,  as  the  sign 
of  clearness  from  sin,  of  union  to  Christ,  and  of  the  impartation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit;  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  a  symbol  of  his  atoning 
death,  a  seal  of  its  efficacy,  and  a  means  whereby  he  confirms  and 
strengthens  the  spiritual  union  and  communion  of  believers  with 
himself. 


178     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

XII.  We  believe  in  the  ultimate  prevalence  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  over  all  the  earth;  in  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great 
God  and  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ;  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead; 
and  in  a  final  judgment  the  issues  of  which  are  everlasting  punish- 
ment and  everlasting  life. 

The  Commission  also  submit  for  the  use  of  the  churches  in  the 
admission  of  members,  the  following 

Confession  of  Faith: 

"What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  toward 
me?  I  will  take  the  cup  of  salvation,  and  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  I  will  pay  my  vows  unto  the  Lord  now  in  the  presence  of  all 
his  people." 

"Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  also  before  my  Father,  which  is  in  heaven." 

"For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness;  and  with 
the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation." 

Dearly  beloved,  called  of  God  to  be  his  children  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  you  are  here,  that,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  his 
people,  you  may  enter  into  the  fellowship  and  communion  of  his 
Church.  You  do  truly  repent  of  your  sins;  you  heartily  receive 
Jesus  Christ  as  your  crucified  Savior  and  risen  Lord;  you  consecrate 
yourselves  unto  God  and  your  life  to  his  service;  you  accept  his 
Word  as  your  law,  and  his  Spirit  as  your  Comforter  and  Guide;  and 
trusting  In  his  grace  to  confirm  and  strengthen  you  in  all  goodness, 
you  promise  to  do  God's  holy  will,  and  to  walk  with  this  Church  in 
the  truth  and  peace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Accepting,  according  to  the  measure  of  your  understanding  of 
it,  the  system  of  Christian  ti'Uth  held  by  the  churches  of  our  faith 
and  order,  and  by  this  fehurch  into  whose  fellowship  you  now  enter, 
you  join  with  ancient  saints,  with  the  Church  throughout  the  world, 
and  with  us,  your  fellow-believers,  in  humbly  and  heartily  confess- 
ing your  faith  in  the  Gospel,  saying: 

I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth.  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord;  who  was  con- 
ceived by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate  ,was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried;  the  third  day  he 
rose  from  the  dead;  he  ascended  into  heaven;  and  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty;  from  thence  he  shall  come 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  the 
holy  catholic  Church;  the  communion  of  saints;  the  forgiveness  of 
sins;  the  resurrection  of  the  body;  and  the  life  everlasting.    Amen. 

(Then  should  baptism  be  administered  to  those  who  have  not 
been  baptized.  Then  should  those  rise  who  would  unite  with  the 
church  by  letter.    To  them  the  minister  should  say: 

Confessing  the  Lord  whom  we  unitedly  worship,  you  do  now 
renew  your  self-consecration,  and  join  with  us  cordially  in  this,  our 
Christian  faith  and  covenant.) 

(The  members  of  th  Church  present  should  rise.) 

We  welcome  you  into  our  fellowship.  We  promise  to  watch 
over  you  with  Christian  love.  God  grant  that,  loving  and  being  loved, 


THE  CREED   OF   1888  179 

serving  and  being  served,  blessing  and  being  blessed,  we  may  be 
prepared,  while  we  dwell  together  on  earth,  for  the  perfect  com- 
munion of  the  saints  in  heaven.  "Now  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought 
again  from  the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the 
sheep,  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you 
perfect  in  every  good  work  to  do  his  will,  working  in  you  that  which 
is  well-pleasing  in  his  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ;  to  whom  be 
glory  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen." 

(Jude  24-25  is  proposed  as  an  alternative  benediction.) 
On  this  result,  reached  after  full  and  prolonged  deliberation, 
the  Commission  invoke  the  kindly  consideration  of  their  brethren, 
and  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God. 

Julius  H.  Seelye,  D.  D.,  Amherst,  Mass. 

Charles  M.  Mead,  D.  D.,  Andover,  Mass. 

Henry  M.  Dexter,  D.  D.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Alexander  McKenzie,  D.  D.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

James  Gibson  Johnson,  D.  D.,  Rutland,  Vt. 

George  P.  Fisher,  D.  D.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

George  L.  Walker,  D.  D.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

George  T.  Ladd,  D.  D.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Samuel   P.  Leeds,  D.  D.,  Hanover,  N.  H, 

David  B.  Coe,  D.  D.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

William  M.  Taylor,  D.  D.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Lyman  Abbott,  D.  D.,  Cornwall-on-the-Hudson,  N.  Y. 

Augustus  F.  Beard,  D.  D.,  Syracuse  ,N.  Y. 

William  W.  Patton,  D.  D.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

James  H.  Fairchild,  D.  D.,  Oberlin,  O. 

Israel  W.  Andrews,  D.  D.,  Marietta,  O. 

Zachary  Eddy,  D.  D.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

James  *T.  Hyde,  D.  D.,  Chicago,  111. 

Alden  B.  Robbins,  D.  D.,  Muscatine,  la. 

Constans  L.  Goodell,  D.  D.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Richard  Cordley,  D.  D.,  Emporia,  Kan. 

George  Moar,  D.  D.,  Oakland,  Cal. 

New  York,  December  19,  1883. 


VII.    ENGLISH  AND  CANADIAN  CONFESSIONS 

(1)       THE    ENGLISH    DECLARATION    OF    1833 

As  in  the  United  States,  so  also  in  Great  Britain;  there 
was  no  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Congregational  churches  to 
formulate  a  confession  of  faith  for  many  generations  after  the 
publication  of  the  Savoy  Declaration.  The  English  churches 
have  been  even  more  careful  than  the  Congregational  churches 
of  America  concerning  movements  which  seemed  to  involve  the 
right  of  any  central  body  to  impose  a  creed  either  upon  a  local 
church,  or  upon  an  individual  member.  But  in  1830,  after  a 
period  of  denominational  decline  and  a  revival  of  denomina- 
tional consciousness,  a  Congregational  headquarters  was  es- 
tablished in  London,  and  three  years  later  a  Declaration  of 
Faith,-  which  had  been  prepared  by  Rev.  George  Redford, 
D.  D.,  LL.D.,  was  accepted  "as  the  declaration  of  the  Con- 
gregational Body,  with  a  distinct  understanding  that  it  is  not 
intended  as  a  test,  or  creed  for  subscription.  It  is  a  dignified, 
deep-spirited  and  evangelical  utterance,  and  it  still  is  printed 
in  the  Year  Book  of  the  Congregational  Union  of  England 
and  of  Wales. 

THE  ENGLISH  DECLARATION 

The  Congregational  Churches  in  England  and  Wales,  frequently 
called  Independents,  hold  the  following  Doctrines,  as  of  Divine 
authority,  and  as  the  foundation  of  Christian  faith  and  practice. 

They  are  also  formed  and  governed  according  to  the  principles 
hereinafter  stated. 

PRELIMINARY  NOTES. 

1.  It  is  not  designed,  In  the  following  summary,  to  do  more 
than  to  state  the  leading  doctrines  of  faith  and  order  maintained  by 
Congregational   Churches  in  general. 

180 


ENGLISH  AND  CANADIAN    CONFESSIONS  181 

2.  It  is  not  proposed  to  offer  any  proofs,  reasons,  or  arguments, 
in  support  of  tbe  doctrines  herein  stated,  but  simply  to  declare  what 
the  denomination  believes  to  be  taught  by  the  pen  of  inspiration. 

3.  It  is  not  intended  to  present  a  scholastic  or  critical  confes- 
sion of  faith,  but  merely  such  a  statement  as  any  intelligent  member 
of  the  body  might  offer,  as  containing  its  leading  principles. 

4.  It  is  not  intended  that  the  following  statement  should  be, 
put  forth  with  any  authority,  or  as  a  standard  to  which  assent 
should  be  required. 

5.  Disallowing  the  utility  of  Creeds  and  Articles  of  religion  as 
a  bond  of  union,  and  protesting  against  subscription  to  any  human 
formularies,  as  a  term  of  communion,  Cojigregationalists  are  yet 
willing  to  declare,  for  general  information,  what  is  commonly  be- 
lieved among  them;  reserving  to  every  one  the  most  perfect  liberty 
of  conscience. 

6.  Upon  some  minor  points  of  doctrine  and  practice,  they,  dif- 
fering among  themselves,  allow  to  each  other  the  right  to  form  an 
unbiased  judgment  of  the  word  of  God. 

7.  They  wish  to  be  observed,  that,  notwithstanding  their  jeal- 
ousy of  subscription  to  Creeds  and  Articles,  and  their  disapproval  of 
the  imposition  of  any  human  standard,  Avhether  of  faith  or  discipline, 
they  are  far  more  agreed  in  their  doctrines  and  practices  than  any 
church  which  enjoys  subscription,  and  enforces  the  human  stand- 
ard of  orthodoxy;  and  they  believe  that  there  is  no  minister  and 
no  church  among  them  that  would  deny  the  substance  of  any  one 
of  the  following  doctrines  of  religion;  though  each  might  prefer 
to  state  his  sentiments  in  his  own  way. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  RELIGION 

I.  The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  received  by  the 
Jews,  and  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  as  received  by  the 
Primitive  Christians  from  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles,  Congrega- 
tional Churches  believe  to  be  divinely  inspired,  and  of  supreme 
authority.  These  writings,  in  the  languages  in  which  they  were 
originally  composed,  are  to  be  consulted,  by  the  aids  of  sound  criti- 
cism, as  a  final  appeal  in  all  controversies;  but  the  common  version 
they  consider  to  be  adequate  to  the  ordinary  purposes  of  Christian 
instruction  and  edification. 

II.  They  believe  in  one  God,  essentially  wise,  holy,  just,  and 
good;  eternal,  infinite,  and  immutable,  in  all  natural  and  moral 
perfections;  the  Creator,  Supporter,  and  Governor  of  all  beings,  and 
of  all  things. 

III.  They  believe  that  God  Is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  as  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  to  each  are  attributed 
the  same  divine  properties  and  perfections.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Divine  existence,  as  above  stated,  they  cordially  believe  without 
attempting  fully  to  explain. 

IV.  They  believe  that  man  was  created  after  the  divine  Image, 
sinless,  and  in  his  kind  perfect. 


183  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

V.  They  believe  tliat  the  first  man  disobeyed  the  divine  com- 
mand, fell  from  his  state  of  innocence  and  purity,  and  involved  all 
his  posterity  in  the  consequences  of  that  fall. 

VI.  They  believe  that  therefore,  all  mankind  arei  born  in  sin, 
and  that  a  fatal  inclination  to  moral  evil,  utterly  incurable  by  human 
means,  is  inherent  in  every  descendant  of  Adam. 

VII.  They  bejieve  that  God  having,  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  designed  to  redeem  fallen  man,  made  disclosures  of  his 
mercy,  which  were  the  grounds  of  faith  and  hope  from  the  earliest 
ages. 

VIII.  They  believe  that  God  revealed  more  fully  to  Abraham 
the  covenant  of  his  grace;  and,  having  promised  that  from  his 
descendants  should  arise  the  Deliverer  and  Redeemer  of  mankind, 
set  that  Patriarch  and  his  posterity  apart,  as  a  race  specially 
favored  and  separated  to  his  service ;  a  peculiar  church,  formed  and 
carefully  preserved,  under  the  divine  sanction  and  government,  until 
the  birth  of  the  promised  Messiah. 

IX.  They  believe  that,  in  the  fulness  of  the  time,  the  Son  of 
God  was  manifested  in  the  flesh,  being  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
but  conceived  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  that  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  was  both  the  Son  of  man  and  the  Son  of  God,  partaking 
fully  and  truly  of  human  nature,  though  without  sin,  equal  with  the 
Father,  and  "the  express  image  of  his  person." 

X.  They  believe  that  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  revealed, 
either  personally  in  his  own  ministry,  or  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
ministry  of  his  apostles,  the  whole  mind  of  God  for  our  salvation; 
and  that  by  his  obedience  to  the  divine  law  while  he  lived,  and  by 
his  sufferings  unto  death,  he  meritoriously  "obtained  eternal  re- 
demption for  us;"  having  thereby  vindicated  and  illustrated  divine 
justice,  "magnified  the  law,"  and  "brought  in  everlasting  righteous- 
ness." 

XI.  They  believed  that,  after  his  death  and  resurrection,  he 
ascended  up  into  heaven,  where,  as  the  Mediator,  he  "ever  liveth" 
to  rule  over  all,  and  to  "make  intercession  for  thean  that  come  unto 
God  by  him." 

XII.  They  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  in  consequence 
of  Christ's  mediation,  to  quicken  and  renew  the  hearts  of  men; 
and  that  his  influence  is  indispensably  necessary  to  bring  a  sinner 
to  true  repentance,  to  produce  saving  faith,  to  regenerate  the  heart, 
and  to  perfect  our  sanctification. 

XIII.  They  believe  that  we  are  justified  through  faith  in  Christ; 
as  "the  Lord  our  righteousness,"  and  not  "by  the  works  of  the  Law." 

XIV.  They  believe  that  all  who  will  be  saved  were  the  objects  of 
God's  eternal  and  electing  love,  and  were  given  by  an  act  of  divine 
sovereignty  to  the  Son  of  God;  which  in  no  way  interferes  with  the 
system  of  means,  nor  with  the  grounds  of  human  responsibility, 
being  wholly  unrevealed  as  to  its  objects,  and  therefore  incapable  of 
becoming  a  rule  of  human  duty. 

XV.  They  believe  that  the  Scriptures  teach  the  final  persever- 
ance of  all  true  believers  to  a  state  of  eternal  blessedness;  which 


ENGLISH   AND   CANADIAN   CONFESSIONS  183 

they  are  appointed  to  obtain  through  constant  faith  in  Christ,  and 
uniform  obedience  to  his  commands. 

XVI.  They  believe  that  a  holy  life  will  be  the  necessary  effect 
of  a  true  faith,  and  that  good  works  are  the  certain  fruits  of  a  vital 
union  to  Christ. 

XVII.  They  believe  that  the  sanction  of  true  Christians,  of 
their  growth  in  the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  and  meetness  for  heaven, 
is  gradually  carried  on  through  the  whole  period,  during  which  it 
pleases  God  to  continue,  them  in  the  present  life;  and  that,  at  death, 
their  souls,  perfectly  freed  from  all  remains  of  evil,  are  immediately 
received  into  the  presence  of  Christ. 

XVIII.  They  believe  in  the  perpetual  obligation  of  Baptism, 
and  the  Lord's  Supper:  the  former  to  be  administered  to  all  con- 
verts to  Christianity  and  their  children,  by  the  application  of  water 
to  the  subject,  "in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the, 
Holy  Ghost;"  and  the  latter  to  be  celebrated  by  Christian  churches 
as  a  token  of  faith  in  the  Saviour,  and  of  brotherly  lova 

XIX.  They  believe  that  Christ  will  finally  come  to  judge  the 
whole  human  race  according  to  their  works;  that  the  bodies  of  the 
dead  will  be  raised  again;  and  that  as  the  Supreme  Judge,  he  will 
divide  the  righteous  from  the  wicked,  will  receive  the  righteous  into 
"life  everlasting,"  but  send  away  the  wicked  into  "everlasting  pun- 
ishment." 

XX.  They  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  directed  his  followers  to 
live  together  in  Christian  fellowship,  and  to  maintain  the  commun- 
ion of  saints;  and  that,  for  this  purpose,  they  are  jointly  to  observe 
all   divine  ordinances,  and   maintain  that  church-order  and  disci- 
spline  which  is  either  expressly  enjoined  by  inspired  institution,  or 

sanctioned  by  the  undoubted  example  of  the  apostles  and  of  apos- 
tolic churches. 

(2)       THE  FREE   CHURCH   CATECHISM 

The  Free  Church  Federation  grew  out  of  a  congress  of 
members  of  Free  Churches  held  in  Manchester,  England,  in 
November,  1892.  The  causes  for  its  development  were  the  re- 
turn of  the  churches  to  Christ  Jesus  as  the  sole  and  exclusive 
authority  in  the  life  of  the  soul  and  in  the  activities  of  the 
churches ;  the  growing  perception  of  an  important  difference 
between  the  essentials  and  non-essentials  of  Christian  doctrine  ; 
the  conviction  of  the  dissenting  churches  that  in  union  was 
strength  in  the  isolated  condition  of  the  separate  evangelical 
communions  outside  the  Anglican  establishment,  and  especially 
the  need  of  a  more  sustained  and  united  effort  to  earrv  the 


184     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Gospel  to  the  people  of  the  large  towns  and  cities.  A  Feder- 
ation of  these  churches  including  Baptists,  Methodists,  Con- 
gregationalists,  Presbyterians  and  others,  was  formed  in  1896. 
It  has  for  its  purpose  the  advocating  of  the  New  Testament 
doctrine  of  the  Church  and  the  defense  of  the  rights  of  the  as- 
sociated churches  and  the  promotion  of  the  application  of  the 
law  of  Christ  to  every  human  relation.  It  has  carried  on  im- 
portant evangelistic  movements,  including  those  of  F.  B. 
Meyer  and  Gypsy  Smith,  and  has  led  crusades  against  gamb- 
ling, drunkenness,  and  social  vice.  It  has  been  a  power  in  the 
political  life  of  Great  Britain.  In  1899  it  adopted  the  Free 
Church  Catechism,  which  has  gained  wide  recognition  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  and  has  not  been  without  influence  in  this 
country. 

THE  FREE  CHURCH  CATECHISM 

1.  Question. — What  is  the,  Christian  religion? 

Answer. — It  is  the  religion  founded  by  our  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesus  Christ,  Who  has  brought  to  us  the  full  knowledge  of  God  and 
of  Eternal  Life. 

2.  Q. — How  must  we  think  of  God? 

A. — God  is  the  one  Eternal  Spirit,  Creator  and  Sustainer  of  all 
things;  He  is  Love,  boundless  in  wisdom  and  power,  perfect  in  holi- 
ness and  justice,  in  mercy  and  truth. 

3.  Q. — By  what  name  has  Jesus  taught  us  to  call  God? 
A. — Our  Father  in  Heaven. 

4.  Q. — What  do  we  learn  from  this  name  of  Father? 

A. — We  learn  that  God  made  us  in  His  own  image,  that  He 
cares  for  us  by  His  wise  providence,  and  that  He  loves  us  far  better 
than  any  earthly  parent  can. 

5.  Q. — What  does  Jesus  say  about  Himself? 

A. — That  He  is  the  Son  of  God,  Whom  the  Father  in  His  great 
love  sent  into  the  world  to  be  our  Savior  from  sin. 

6.  Q.— What  is  sin? 

A. — Sin  is  any  thought  or  feeling,  word  or  act,  which  either  is 
contrary  to  God's  holy  law,  or  falls  short  of  what  it  requires. 

7.  Q. — Say  in  brief  what  God's  law  requires. 

A. — That  we  should  love  God  with  our  whole,  heart,  and  our 
neighbor  as  ourselves. 

8.  Q. — Are  we  able  of  ourselves  to  do  this? 

A. — No;  for,  although  man  was  made  innocent  at  the  first,  yet 
he  fell  into  disobedience,  and  since  then  no  one  has  been  able,  in  his 
own  strength,  to  keep  God's  law. 


ENGLISH   AND   CANADIAN   CONFESSIONS  185 

9.  Q.  i-What  are  the  consequences  of  sin? 

A. — Sin  separates  man  from  God,  corrupts  his  nature,  exposes 
him  to  manifold  pains  and  griefs,  and,  unless  he  repents,  must  issue 
in  death  eternal. 

10.  Q. — Can  we  deliver  ourselves  from  sin  and  its  consequences? 
A. — By  no  means;  for  we  are  unable  either  to  cleanse  our  own 

hearts  or  to  make  amends  for  our  offenses. 

11.  Q. — How  did  the  Son  of  God  save  His  people  from  their  sins? 
A. — For  our  salvation  He  came  down  from  Heaven,  and  was 

incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made  man, 
and  was  crucified  also  for  us  under  Pontius  Pilate.  He  suffered  and 
was  buried,  and  the  third  day  He  rose  again  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  ascended  into  Heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father. 

12.  Q. — "NMiat  benefit  have  we  from  the  Son  of  God  becoming  man? 
A. — We  have  a  Mediator  betv/een  God  and  men;   one  who  as 

God  reveals  to  us  what  God  is;  and,  as  perfect  Man,  represents  our 
race  before  God. 

13.  Q. — What  further  benefits  have  we  from  our  Lord's  life  on 
earth? 

A. — We  have  in  Him  a  brother  man  who  is  touched  with  the 
feeling  of  our  infirmities,  as  well  as  a  perfect  example  of  what  we 
ought  to  be. 

14.  Q. — What  did  He  accomplish  for  us  by  His  death  on  the  Cross? 
A. — By  offering  Himself  a  sacrifice  without  blemish  unto  God, 

He  fulfilled  the  requirements  of  Divine  Holiness,  atoned  for  all  our 
sins,  and  broke  the  power  of  Sin  . 

15.  Q. — What  does  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  teach  us? 

A. — It  assures  us  that  He  has  finished  the  work  of  our  redemp- 
tion; that  the  dominion  of  death  is  ended;  and  that,  because  He 
lives,  we  shall  live  also. 

16.  Q. — What  do  we  learn  from  His  Ascension  into  Heaven? 

A. — That  we  have  in  Him  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  Who 
ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us. 

17.  Q. — What  do  we  learn  fromi  His  session  at  the  right  hand  of 
God? 

A. — That  He  is  exalted  as  our  Head  and  King,  to  T\Tiom  has 
been  given  all  authority  in  Heaven  and  on  earth. 

18.  Q. — How  does  Jesus  Christ  still  carry  on  His  work  of  salvation? 
A. — By  the  third  person  in  the  blessed  Trinity,  the  Holy  Spirit, 

Who  was  sent  forth  at  Pentecost. 

19.  Q. — TMiat  is  the  mystery  of  the  blessed  Trinity? 

A. — That  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  into  Whose 
Name  we  are  baptized,  are  one  God. 

20.  Q. — What  must  we  do  in  order  to  be  saved? 

A. — We  must  repent  of  our  sin  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 


186    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

21.  Q.— What  is  it  to  repent? 

A. — He  who  truly  repents  of  his  sin  not  only  confesses  it  with 
shame  and  sorrow,  but  above  all  hei  turns  from  it  to  God  with  sin- 
cere desire  to  be  forgiven  and  steadfast  purpose  to  sin  no  more. 

22.  Q. — What  is  it  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ? 

A. — It  means  that  we  rely  on  Him  as  our  Teacher,  Savior  and 
Lord,  putting  our  whole  trust  in  the  grace  of  God  through  Him. 

23.  Q. — How  are  we  enabled  to  repent  and  believe? 

A. — By  the  secret  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  working  graciously 
in  our  hearts,  and  using  for  this  end  providential  discipline  and  the 
message  of  the  Gospel. 

24.  Q. — What  beneifits  do  we  receive  when  we  repent  and  believe? 
A. — Being  united  to  Christ  by  faith,  our  sins  are  freely  forgiven 

for  His  sake;  our  hearts  are  renewed,  and  we  become  children  of 
God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ. 

25.  Q. — In  what  way  are  we  to  show  ourselves  thankful  for  such 
great  benefits? 

A. — By  striving  to  follow  the  example  of  Jesus  in  doing  and 
bearing  the  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father. 

26.  Q. — Where  do  we  find  God's  will  briefly  expressed? 

A. — In  the  Decalogue  or  Law  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  as  ex- 
plained by  Jesus  Christ. 

27.  Q. — Repeat  the  Ten  Commandments. 

A. — (Repetition  of  the  Commandments.) 

28.  Q. — How  has  our  Lord  taught  us  to  understand  the  Law? 

A. — He  taught  that  the  Law  reaches  to  the  desires,  motives  and 
intentions  of  the  heart,  so  that  we  cannot  keep  it  unless  we  love 
God  with  our  whole  heart  and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves. 

(1)  Q. — What  does  the  First  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — To  take  the  one  living  and  true,  God  for  our  own  God,  and 
render  unto  Him  the  honor  which  is  due  to  Him  alone. 

(2)  Q. — What  does  the  Second  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — To  worship  God  in  spirit  and  truth,  not  by  the  use  of  images 
or  other  devices  of  men,  but  in  such  ways  as  He  has  Himself  ap- 
pointed. 

(3)  Q. — What  does  the  Third  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — Never  to  blaspheme  and  never  to  utter  profane  words,  but 
always  to  regard  and  use  with  deep  reverence  the  Holy  Name  of 
God. 

(4)  Q. — What  does  the  Fourth  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — That  we  ought  to  be  diligent  in  our  calling  during  six  days 
in  the  week,  but  keep  one  day  hallowed  for  rest  and  worship;  and 
because  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead  on  the  first  day  of  the  week. 
Christians  observe  that  day,  calling  it  the  Lord's  Day. 

(5)  Q. — What  does  the  Fifth  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — That  God  regards  with  special  favor  those  who  reverence 
and  obey  their  parents. 

(6)  Q. — What  does  the  Sixth  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — To  hold  human  life  sacred,  and  instead  of  hating  or  hurting 
our  fellow-men,  even  our  enemies,  to  do  all  we  can  to  preserve  them 
in  health  and  well-being. 


ENGLISH   AND   CANADIAN   CONFESSIONS  187 

(7)  Q. — What  does  the  Seventh  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — To  honor  God's  ordinance  of  marriage,  to  preserve  modesty, 
and  to  keep  ourselves  chaste  in  thought,  speech  and  behavior. 

(8)  Q. — WTiat  does  the  Eighth  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — To  be  honest  and  fair  in  all  our  dealings,  and  In  no  wise 
to  take  unbrotherly  advantage  of  another  by  fraud  or  force. 

(9)  Q. — "WTiat  does  the  Ninth  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — To  avoid  false  testimony,  and  never  to  deceive  anyone  or 
spread  reports  to  our  neighbor's  hurt. 

(10)  Q. — "What  does  the  Tenth  Commandment  teach  us? 

A. — Not  even  in  our  heart  to  grudge  our  fellowman  his  pros- 
perity or  desire  to  deprive  him  of  that  which  is  his,  but  always  to 
cultivate  a  thankful  and  contented  spirit. 

29.  Q. — "^Tiat  special  means  has  God  provided  to  assist  us  in  lead- 
ing a  life  of  obedience? 

A. — His  Word.  Prayer,  the  Sacraments,  and  the  Fellowship  of 
the  Church. 

30.  Q.— Where  do  we  find  God's  Word  written? 

A. — In  the  Holy  Bible,  which  is  the  inspired  record  of  God's 
revelation  given  to  be  our  rule  of  faith  and  duty. 

31.  Q.— WTiat  is  prayer? 

A. — In  prayer  we  commune  with  our  Father  in  Heaven,  con- 
fess our  sins,  give  Him  thanks  for  all  His  benefits,  and  ask,  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  for  such  things  as  He  has  promised. 

32.  Q. — Repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
A. —  (Repetition  of  the  Prayer.) 

(1)  Q. — What  is  meant  by  the  words — "Hallowed  be  Thy  Name"? 

A. — That  our  Heavenly  Father  would  lead  all  men  to  acknowl- 
edge and  reverence  Him  as  Jesus  has  made  Him  known,  so  that 
everywhere  His  glorious  praise  may  be  proclaimed. 

(2)  Q. — What  do  we  pray  for  in  the  words — "Thy  Kingdom  come"? 
A. — We  pray  that  the  Gospel  may  spread  and  prevail  in  all  the 

world,  till  the  power  of  evil  is  overthrown  and  Jesus  reigns  in  every 
heart,  and  governs  every  relation  of  human  Ufa 

(3)  Q. — WTiat  is  meant  by  the  words — "Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as 
it  is  in  heaven"? 

A. — That  all  men  may  be  led  to  accept  God's  holy  will,  and 
cheerfully  to  do  whatever  He  requires,  so  that  his  gracious  purpose 
may  be  fulfilled. 

(4)  Q. — WTiat  shall  we  desire  when  we  say — "Give  us  this  day  our 
dally  bread"? 

A. — That  God  would  prosper  our  daily  labor,  and  provide  what 
is  needed  for  the  body,  ridding  us  of  anxiety  and  disposing  us  to 
contentment. 

(5)  Q.— Explain  this  petition — "Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive 
our  debtors." 

A. — Here  Chri.st  teaches  us  that  we  may  confidently  ask  God  to 
forgive  us  our  sins,  but  that  He  will  not  do  so  unless  we  ourselves 
from  the  heart,  forgive  those  who  have  wronged  us. 

(6)  Q. — AMiat  do  we  ask  for  in  the  last  petition — "Lead  us  not  into 
temptation  but  deliver  us  from  evil"? 


188    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

A. — We  entreat  that  we  may  not  need,  for  our  humbling,  to  be 
exposed  to  severe  temptations,  and  that  we  may  be  kept  from  the 
power  of  every  spiritual  enemy. 

33.  Q.— What  is  the  Holy  Catholic  Church? 

A. — It  is  that  Holy  Society  of  believers  in  Christ  Jesus  which 
He  founded  ,of  which  He  is  the  only  Head,  and  in  which  He  dwells 
by  His  spirit;  so  that,  though  made  up  of  many  communions,  or- 
ganized in  various  modes,  and  scattered  throughout  the  world,  it  is 
yet  One  in  Him. 

34.  Q. — For  what  ends  did  our  Lord  found  His  Church? 

A. — He  united  His  people  into  this  visible  brotherhood  for  the 
worship  of  God  and  the  ministry  of  the  Word  and  the  Sacraments; 
for  mutual  edification,  the  administration  of  discipline,  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  His  Kingdom. 

35.  Q. — What  is  the  essential  mark  of  a  true  branch  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church? 

A. — The  essential  mark  of  a  true  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church 
is  the  presence  of  Christ,  through  His  indwelling  manifested  in 
holy  life  and  fellowship  . 

36.  Q.— What  is  a  Free  Church? 

A. — A  Church  which  acknowledges  none  but  Jesus  Christ  as 
Head,  and,  therefore,  exercises  its  right  to  interpret  and  administer 
His  laws  without  restraint  or  control  by  the  State. 

37.  Q.— What  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  the  State? 

A. — To  observe  all  the  laws  of  the  State  unless  contrary  to  the 
teachings  of  Christ;  to  make  intercession  for  the  people,  and  par- 
ticularly for  those  in  authority;  to  teach  both  rulers  and  subjects 
the  eternal  principles  of  righteousness,  and  to  imbue  the  nation 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

38.  Q.— What  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  the  Church? 

A. — To  protect  all  branches  of  the  Church  and  their  individual 
members  in  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  to  worship  God,  and  in  efforts 
to  promote  the  religion  of  Christ,  which  do  not  interfere  with  the 
civil  rights  of  others. 

39.  Q. — What  is  a  Christian  minister? 

A. — A  Christian  minister  is  one  who  is  called  of  God  and  the 
Church  to  be  a  teacher  of  the  Word  and  a  pastor  of  the  flock  of 
Christ. 

40.  Q. — How  may  the  validity  of  such  a  ministry  be  proved? 

A. — The  decisive  proof  of  a  valid  ministry  is  the  sanction  of  the 
Divine  Head  of  the  Church,  manifested  in  the  conversion  of  sinners 
and  the  edification  of  the  Body  of  Christ. 

41.  Q. — What  are  the  Sacraments  of  the  Church? 

A. — Sacred  rites  instituted  by  our  Lord  Jesus  to  make  more 
plain  by  visible  signs  the  inward  benefits  of  the  Gospel,  to  assure 
us  of  His  promised  grace,  and,  when  rightly  used,  to  become  a  means 
to  convey  it  to  our  hearts. 

42.  Q. — How  many  Sacraments  are  there? 

A. — Two  only;  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

43.  Q. — What  is  the  visible  sign  in  the  Sacrament  of  baptism? 

A. — Water:  wherein  the  person  is  baptized  into  the  name  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


ENGLISH   AND   CANADIAN   CONFESSIONS  189 

44.  Q. — What  inward  benefits  does  this  signify? 

A.— The  washing  away  of  sin  and  the  ne,w  birth  wrought  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  all  who  repent  and  believe. 

45.  Q.— What  are  the  outward  signs  in  the  Lord's  Supper? 

A.— Bread  and  wine:  which  the  Lord  has  commanded  to  be 
given  and  received  for  a  perpetual  memorial  of  His  death. 

46.  Q.— What  is  signified  by  the  Bread  and  Wine? 

A.— By  the  Bread  is  signified  the  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  which  He  lived  and  died;  by  the  Wine  is  signified  His  blood,  shed 
once  for  all  upon  the  Cross  for  the  remission  of  sins. 

47.  Q.— What  do  they  receive  who  in  penitence  and  faith  partake 
of  this  Sacrament? 

A.— They  feed  spiritually  upon  Christ  as  the  nourishment  of 
the  soul,  by  which  they  are  strengthened  and  refreshed  for  the 
duties  and  trials  of  life. 

48.  Q.— Why   do    Christians    partake    in    common    of    the    Lord's 
Supper? 

A.— To  show  their  oneness  in  Christ,  to  confess  openly  their 
faith  in  Him,  and  to  give  one  another  a  pledge  of  brotherly  love. 

49.  Q.— What  is  a  Christian's  chief  comfort  in  this  life? 

A.— That  in  Christ  he  belongs  to  God,  who  makes  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  Him. 

50.  Q.— What  hope  have  we  in  the  prospect  of  death? 

A.— We  are  well  assured  that  all  who  fall  asleep  in  Christ  are 
with  Him  in  rest  and  peace;  and  that  even  as  He,  rose  from  the 
dead,  so  shall  we  also  rise  and  be  clothed  with  glorified  bodies. 

51.  Q.— What  has  Jesus  told  us  of  His  Second  Advent? 

A.— That  at  a  time  known  only  to  God,  He  shall  appear  again 
with  power,  to  be  glorified  in  His  saints  and  to  be  the  Judge  of  all 
mankind;  and  that  for  His  appearing  we  should  be  always  ready. 

52.  Q.— "\^^lat  is  the  Christian's  hope  concerning  the  future  state? 
A. — We  look  for  the  life  everlasting,  wherein  all  who  are  saved 

through  Christ  shall  see  God  and  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
them  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

(3)      CANADIAN  CONFESSIONS 

The  Congrej?ational  churches  of  Canada  have  never 
adopted  a  general  confession  of  faith.  The  local  use  of  creeds 
exhibits  marked  variety.  Some  have  simple-  covenants  con- 
taining brief  allusions  to  the  fundamentals  in  a  few  sentences. 
The  confession  most  generally  appealed  to  is  the  Commission's 
Creed  of  1883,  which  has  been  adopted  by  a  number  of  local 
churches  and  several  times  has  been  printed  in  the  Canadian 
Year  Book.  In  the  language  of  Prof.  E.  Munson  Hill,  of 
Montreal,  "It  expresses  the  general  belief  of  the  Congrega- 


190    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

tional  churches  of  Canada,  but  is  not  binding  and  is  not  used 
as  a  test. ' ' 

The  most  important  document,  which  has  received  the 
assent  of  the  Canadian  churches  is  the  doctrinal  basis  of  the 
proposed  union  of  the  Methodist,  Presbyterian  and  Congrega- 
tional churches.  This  is  a  somewhat  elaborate  document  con- 
taining twenty  articles,  much  longer  and  more  specific  than 
the  Dayton  Creed,  which  was  approved  as  the  basis  of  the 
proposed  union  of  the  Congregational,  United  Brethren,  and 
Methodist  Protestant  churches  in  the  United  States.  The  Con- 
gregation alists  of  Canada  were  generally  opposed  to  such  an 
elaborate  statement  as  that  proposed  by  the  Presbyterians  and 
finally  agreed  upon.  The  Presbyterian  influence,  however, 
carried  the  adoption  of  the  declaration,  and  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  secured  a  concession  in  the  third  section  of  the  fol- 
lowing declaration  of  the  minister 's  relation  to  doctrine : 

III. — The  Relations  of  a  Minister  to  the  Doctrines  of  the  Church 

1.  The  duty  of  final  inquiry  into  the  personal  character,  doc- 
trinal beliefs,  and  general  fitness  of  candidates  for  the  Ministry 
presenting  themselves  for  ordination  or  for  reception  as  ministers 
of  The  United  Church,  shall  be  laid  upon  the  Conference. 

2.  These  candidates  shall  be  examined  on  the  Statement  of 
Doctrine  of  The  United  Church,  and  shall,  before  ordination,  satisfy 
the  examining  body  that  they  are  in  essential  agreement  therewith, 
and  that  as  ministers  of  the  Church  they  accept  the  statement  as  in 
substance  agreeable  to  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

3.  Further,  in  the  ordination  service  before  the  Conference 
these  candidates  shall  answer  the  following  questions: 

(1)  Do  you  believe  yourself  to  be  a  child  of  God,  through  faith 
In  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ? 

(2)  Do  you  believe  yourself  to  be  called  of  God  to  the  office  of 
the  Christian  ministry,  and  your  chief  motives  to  be  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  God,  love  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  desire  for  the 
salvation  of  men? 

(3)  Are  you  persuaded  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  contain  suf- 
ficiently all  doctrines  required  for  eternal  salvation  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  are  you  resolved  out  of  the  said  Scriptures  to  in- 
struct the  people  committed  to  your  charge,  and  to  teach  nothing 
which  is  not  agreeable  thereto? 

With  the  foregoing  declaration,  which  makes  Holy  Scrip- 
ture and  not  the  creed  the  test  of  a  minister's  qualification, 


ENGLISH   AND   CANADIAN   CONFESSIONS  191 

the  following  doctrinal  statement  has  been  approved,  and  may 
become  the  basis  of  a  Canadian  union  of  churches,  so  far  as 
such  a  union  has  its  basis  in  doctrine : 

THE  UNITED  CHURCH  OF  CANADA 

The  Basis  of  Union 

As  agreed  upon  by  the  joint  committee  of  the  Presbyterian,  Metho- 
dist and  Congregational  Churches 

GENERAL 

1.  The  name  of  the  Church  formed  by  the  union  of  the  Presby- 
terian, Methodist,  and  Congregational  Churches  in  Canada,  shall  be 
"The  United  Church  of  Canada." 

2.  It  shall  be  the  policy  of  The  United  Church  to  foster  the 
spirit  of  unity  in  the  hope  that  this  sentiment  of  unity  may  in  due 
time,  so  far  as  Canada  is  concerned,  take  shape  in  a  church  which 
may  fittingly  be  described  as  national. 

DOCTRINE 

We,  the  representatives  of  the  Presbyterian,  the  Methodist,  and 
the  Congregational  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Canada,  do 
hereby  set  forth  the  substance  of  the  Christian  faith,  as  commonly 
held  among  us.  In  doing  so,  we  build  upon  the  foundation  laid  by 
the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone.  We  aflBrm  our  belief  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  the  primary  source  and  ultimate  standard  of 
Christian  faith  and  life.  We  acknowledge  the  teaching  of  the  great 
Creeds  of  the  ancient  Church.  We  further  maintain  our  allegiance 
to  the  evangelical  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  as  set  forth  in 
common  in  the  doctrinal  standards  adopted  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Canada,  by  the  Congregational  Union  of  Ontario  and 
Quebec,  and  by  the  ISIethodist  Church.  We  present  the  accompany- 
ing statement  as  a  brief  summary  of  our  common  faith,  and  com- 
mend it  to  the  studious  attention  of  the  members  and  adherents  of 
the  negotiating  Churches,  as  in  substance  agreeable  to  the  teaching 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Article  1. — Of  God.— We  believe  In  the  one  only  living  and  true 
God,  a  Spirit,  Infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable,  in  His  being  and 
perfections;  the  Lord  Almighty,  who  is  love,  most  just  In  all  His 
ways,  most  glorious  in  holiness,  unsearchable  in  wisdom,  plenteous 
in  mercy,  full  of  compassion,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth. 
We  worship  Him  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  and  the  mystery  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  three 
persons,  of  the  same  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory. 

Article  II. — Of  Revelation. — We  believe  that  God  has  revealed 
Himself  in  nature,  in  history,  and  in  the  heart  of  man;  that  He  has 


192  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

been  graciously  pleased  to  make  clearer  revelation  of  Himself  to 
men  of  God  who  spoke  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
that  in  the  fulness  of  time  He  has  perfectly  revealed  Himself  in 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Word  made  flesh,  who  is  the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory  and  the  express  image  of  His  pexson.  We  receive 
the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  given  by  in- 
spiration of  God,  as  containing  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
life,  a  faithful  record  of  God's  gracious  revelations,  and  as  the  sure 
witness  to  Christ. 

Article  III. — Of  the  Divine  Purpose. — We  believe  that  the  eter- 
nal, wise,  holy  and  loving  purpose  of  God  so  embraces  all  events 
that  while  the  freedom  of  man  is  not  taken  away,  nor  is  God  the 
author  of  sin,  yet  in  His  providence  He  makes  all  things  work  to- 
gether in  the  fulfillmejit  of  His  sovereign  design  and  the  manifesta- 
tion of  His  glory. 

Article  IV. — Of  Creation  and  Providence. — We  believe  that  God 
is  the  creator,  upholder  and  governor  of  all  things;  that  He  is 
above  all  His  works  and  in  theou  all ;  and  that  He  made  man  in  His 
own  image,  meet  for  fellowship  with  Him,  free  and  able  to  choose 
between  good  and  evil,  and  responsible  to  his  Maker  and  Lord. 

Article  V. — Of  the  Sin  of  Man. — We  believe  that  our  first  parents, 
being  tempted,  chose  evil,  and  so  fell  away  from  God  and  came  un- 
der the  power  of  sin,  the  penalty  of  which  is  eternal  death;  and 
that,  by  reason  of  this  disobedience,  all  men  are  born  with  a  sinful 
nature,  that  we  have  broken  God's  law  and  that  no  man  can  be 
saved  but  by  His  grace. 

Article  VI.— Of  the  Grace  of  God.— We  believe  that  God,  out  ot 
His  great  love  for  the  world,  has  given  His  only  begotten  Son  to  be 
the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  in  the  Gospel  freely  offers  His  all- 
sufllcient  salvation  to  all  men.  We  believe  also  that  God,  in  His 
own  good  pleasure,  gave  to  His  Son  a  people,  an  innumerable  mul- 
titude, chosen  in  Christ  unto  holiness,  service  and  salvation. 

Article  VII.— Of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. — We  believe  in  and 
confess  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and 
man,  who,  being  the  Eternal  Son  of  God,  for  us  men  and  for  our 
salvation  became  truly  man,  being  conceived  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  yet  without  sin.  Unto  us  He  has  revealed 
the  Father,  by  His  word  and  Spirit,  making  known  the  perfect  will 
of  God.  For  our  redemption  He  fulfilled  all  righteousness,  offered 
Himself  a  perfect  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  satisfied  Divine  justice  and 
made  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  He  rose  fi'om 
the  dead  and  ascended  into  Heaven,  where  He  ever  intercedes  for 
us.  In  the  hearts  of  believers  He  abides  forever  as  the  indwelling 
Christ;  above  us  and  over  us  all  He  rules;  wherefore,  unto  Him  we 
render  love,  obedience  and  adoration  as  our  Prophet,  Priest  and 
King. 

Article  VIII.— Of  the  Holy  Spirit.— We  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  Lord  and  Giver  of  Life,  who  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  who  moves  upon  the  hearts  of  men  to  restrain  them  from  evil 
and  to  incite  them  unto  good,  and  whom  the  Father  is  ever  willing 
to  give  unto  all  who  ask  Him.    We  believe  that  He  has  spoken  by 


ENGLISH   AND    CANADIAN    CONFESSIONS  193 

holy  men  of  God  in  making  known  His  truth  to  men  for  their  sal- 
vation; that,  through  our  exalted  Saviour,  He  was  se,nt  forth  in 
power  to  convict  the  world  of  sin,  to  enlighten  men's  minds  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  and  to  persuade  and  enahle  them  to  obey  the 
call  of  the  Gospel ;  and  that  He  abides  with  the  Church,  dwelling 
in  every  believer  as  the  spirit  of  truth,  of  power,  of  holiness,  of 
comfort  and  of  love. 

Article  IX. — Of  Regeneration. — We  believe  in  the  necessity  of 
regeneration,  whereby  we  are  made  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  who  imparts  spiritual  life  by  the  gracious  and 
mysterious  operation  of  His  power,  using  as  the  ordinary  means 
the  truths  of  His  word  and  the  ordinances  of  divine  appointment  in 
ways  agreeable  to  the  nature  of  man. 

Article  X. — Of  Faith  and  Repentance. — We  believe  that  faith  in 
Christ  is  a  saving  grace  whereby  w^e  receive  Him,  trust  in  Him  and 
rest  upon  Him  alone  for  salvation,  as  He  is  offered  to  us  in  the  Gos- 
pel, and  that  this  saving  faith  is  always  accompanied  by  repentance, 
wherein  we  confess  and  forsake  our  sins  with  full  purpose  of  and 
endeavor  after  a  new  obedience,  to  God. 

Article  XI. — Of  .Justification  and  Sonship. — We  believe  that  God, 
on  the  sole  ground  of  the  perfect  obedience  and  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
pardons  those  who  by  faith  receive  Him  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord, 
accepts  them  as  righteous  and  bestows  upon  them  the  adoption  of 
sons,  with  a  right  to  all  the  privilegese  therein  implied,  including 
a  conscious  assurance  of  their  sonship. 

Article  XII. — Of  Sanctification. — We  believe  that  those  who  are 
regenerated  and  justified  grow  in  the  likeness  of  Christ  through 
fellowship  with  Him,  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  obed- 
ience to  the  truth;  that  a  holy  life  is  the  fruit  and  evidence  of  saving 
faith;  and  the  believer's  hope  of  continuance  in  such  a  life  is  in 
the  preserving  grace  of  God.  And  we  bejieve  that  in  this  growth  in 
grace  Christians  may  attain  that  maturity  and  full  assurance  of 
faith  whereby  the  love  of  God  is  made  perfect  in  us. 

Article  XIII. — Of  Prayer. — We  believe  that  we  are  encouraged 
to  draw  near  to  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  in  the  name  of  His  Son, 
Jesus  Christ,  and  on  our  own  behalf  and  that  of  others  to  pour  out 
our  hearts  humbly  yet  freely  before  Him,  as  becomes  His  beloved 
children,  giving  Him  the  honour  and  praise  due  to  His  holy  name, 
asking  Him  to  glorify  Himself  on  earth  as  in  heaven,  confessing 
unto  Him  our  sins  and  seeking  of  Him  every  gift  needful  for  this 
life  and  for  our  everlasting  salvation.  We  believe  also  that,  inas- 
much as  all  true  prayer  is  prompted  by  His  Spirit,  He  will  in 
response  thereto  grant  to  us  every  blessing  according  to  His  un- 
searchable wisdom  and  the  riches  of  His  grace  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Article  XIV.— Of  the  Law  of  God.— We  believe  that  the  moral 
law  of  God,  summarized  in  the  Ten  Commandments,  testified  to  by 
the  prophets  and  unfolded  in  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ, 
stands  forever  in  truth  and  equity,  and  is  not  made  void  by  faith, 
but  on  the  contrary  is  established  thereby.  We  believe  that  God  re- 
quires of  every  man  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly 


194    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

with  God;  and  that  only  through  this  harmony  with  the  will  of  God 
shall  be  fulfilled  that  brotherhood  of  man  wherein  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  to  be  made  manifest. 

Article  XV. — Of  the  Church. — We  acknowledge  one  holy  catholic 
Church,  the  innumerable  company  of  saints  of  every  age  and  nation, 
who,  being  united  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  Christ  their  Head  are  one 
body  in  Him  and  have  communion  with  their  Lord  and  with  one  an- 
other. Further,  we  receive  it  as  the'  will  of  Christ  that  His  Church 
on  earth  should  exist  as  a  visible  and  sacred  brotherhood,  consisting 
of  those  who  profess  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  obedience  to  Him, 
together  with  their  children,  and  other  baptized  children,  and  or- 
ganized for  the  confession  of  His  name,  for  the  public  worship  of 
God,  for  the,  administration  of  the  sacraments,  for  the  upbuilding  of 
the  saints,  and  for  the  universal  propagation  of  the  Gospel;  and  we 
acknowledge  as  a  part,  more  or  less  pure,  of  this  universal  brother- 
hood, every  particular  Church  throughout  the  world  which  profess 
this  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  obedience  to  Him  as  divine  Lord 
and  Saviour. 

Article  XVI. — Of  the  Sacraments. — We  acknowledge  two  sacra- 
ments, Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  were  instituted  by 
Christ,  to  be  of  perpetual  obligation  as  signs  and  seals  of  the  cove- 
nant ratified  in  His  precious  blood,  as  means  of  grace,  by  which, 
working  in  us.  He  doth  not  only  quicken,  but  also  strengthen  and 
comfort  our  faith  in  Him,  and  as  ordinances  through  the  observance 
of  which  His  Church  is  to  confess  her  Lord  and  be  visibly  distin- 
guished from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

(1)  Baptism  with  water  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  sacrament  by  which  are  signified 
and  sealed  our  union  to  Christ  and  participation  in  the  blessings  of 
the  new  covenant.  The  proper  subjects  of  baptism  are  believe,rs, 
and  infants  presented  by  their  parents  or  guardians  in  the  Christian 
faith.  In  the  latter  case  the  parents  or  guardians  should  train  up 
their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  and 
should  expect  that  their  children  will,  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  receive  the  benefits  which  the  sacrament  is  designed  and 
fitted  to  convey.  The  Church  is  under  the  most  solemn  obligation  to 
provide  for  their  Christian  instruction. 

(2)  The  Lord's  Supper  is  the  sacrament  of  communion  with 
Christ  and  with  His  people,  in  which  bread  and  wine  are  given  and 
received  in  thankful  remembrance  of  Him  and  His  sacrifice  on  the 
cross;  and  they  who  in  faith  receive  the  same  do,  after  a  spiritual 
manner,  partake  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to 
their  comfort,  nourishment  and  growth  in  grace.  All  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Lord's  Supper  who  make  a  credible  profession  of  their 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  of  obedience  to  His  law. 

Article  XVII. — Of  the  Ministry.— We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church,  has  appointed  therein  a  minis- 
try of  the  word  and  sacraments,  and  calls  men  to  this  ministry; 
that  the  Church,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  recognizes 


ENGLISH   AND   CANADIAN   CONFESSIONS  195 

anvJ  chooses  those  whom  Ho  calls,  and  should  thereupon  duly  ordain 
them  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

Article  XVIII.— Of  Church  Order  and  Fellowship. — We  believe 
that  the  Supreme  and  only  Head  of  the  Church  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ;  that  its  worship,  teaching,  discipline  and  government  should 
be  administered  according  to  His  will  by  persons  chosen  for  their 
fitness  and  duly  set  apart  to  their  office;  and  that  although  the  vis- 
ible Church  may  contain  unworthy  members  and  is  liable  to  err, 
yet  believers  ought  not  lightly  to  separate  themselves  from  its  com- 
munion, but  are  to  live  in  fellowship  with  their  brethren,  which 
fellowship  is  to  be  extended,  as  God  gives  opportunity,  to  all  who 
in  every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Article  XIX. — Of  the  Resurrection,  the  Last  Judgment  and  the 
Future  Life. — We  believe  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  both  of  the  just  and  of  the  unjust,  through  the  power  of  the 
Son  of  God,  who  shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead;  that 
the  finally  impenitent  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment  and 
the  righteous  into  life  eternal. 

Article  XX. — Of  Christian  Service  and  the  Final  Triumph. — We 
believe  that  it  is  our  duty  as  disciples  and  servants  of  Christ,  to  fur- 
ther the  extension  of  His  kingdom,  to  do  good  unto  all  men,  to  main- 
tain the  public  and  private  worship  of  God,  to  hallow  the  Lord's 
Day,  to  preserve  the  inviolability  of  marriage  and  the  sanctity  of 
the  family,  to  uphold  the  just  authority  of  the  State,  and  so  to  live 
in  all  honesty,  purity  and  charity  that  our  lives  shall  testify  of 
Christ  We  joyfully  receive  the  word  of  Christ,  bidding  His  people 
to  go  into  all  the  world  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  declaring 
unto  them  that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  Him- 
self, and  that  He  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  We  confidently  believe  that  by  His  power 
and  grace  all  His  enemies  shall  finally  be  overcome,  and  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  be  made  the  kingdom  of  our  God  and  of  His 
Christ. 


VIII.    THE  DAYTON  DECLARATION 

The  National  Council  at  its  session  in  Des  Moines,  in  1904, 
gave  its  Committee  on  Comity,  Federation,  and  Unity,  in- 
struction on  two  special  subjects:  (1),  To  advance  the  feder- 
ation of  Christian  churches  in  this  country;  and  (2),  To  ad- 
vance the  union  proposed  between  the  Congregationalists,  the 
United  Brethren,  and  the  ^Methodist  I'rotestants. 

On  the  subject  of  union  with  other  denominations  the 
National  Council  took  the  following  action : 

"Resolved,  That  this  National  Council  heartily  approves 
the  purpose  and  the  general  plan  for  the  closer  union  of  the 
Methodist  Protestants,  United  Brethren  and  Congregational 
denominations;  and  that  we  accept  the  plan  as  presented  by 
the  committees  of  the  three  denominations,  with  the  earnest 
hope  that  it  may  lead  to  a  complete  organic  union. ' ' 

Other  action  by  the  Council  provided  for  the  election  of 
delegates  and  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Council  of  the 
three  denominations.  In  accordance  with  these  directions  the 
committees  of  the  three  denominations  on  Time  and  Place  met 
in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  August  20,  1905,  and  agreed  to  call  the 
General  Council  of  the  three  bodies  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  February 
7-9,  1906.  Accordingly  the  General  Council  met  at  that  time 
and  place,  delegates  having  been  appointed,  in  accordance 
with  the  direction  of  the  last  Council,  by  the  Provisional  Com- 
mittee, the  Congregational  delegates  present  being  110  in 
number.  On  the  opening  of  this  General  Council  a  resolution 
was  presented  by  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Lewis,  in  behalf  of  the  Metho- 
dist Protestants,  declaring  that  "our  first  and  chief  business 
is  to  provide  for  the  organic  union  of  these  thi-ec  bodies,"  and 
appointing  large  commiteees  from  each  of  these  bodies  on 

196 


THE  DAYTON    DECLARATION  197 

Doctrine,  Polity  and  Vested  Interests,  for  the  purpose  of  ac- 
complishing this  result.  Three  committees  of  21  were  thus 
appointed  b}'  each  denomination,  and  were  divided  in  each  de- 
nomination into  sub-committees  of  seven  each.  The>'  met 
together,  those  of  the  three  denominations  on  Docti-iiie,  thus  21 
in  all;  the  three  on  Polity  in  the  same  way,  and  the  three  on 
Vested  Interests.  After  much  consideration,  and  the  approval 
of  each  separate  report  by  the  combined  committees,  63  in  all, 
they  were  presented  to  the  Genei-al  Council,  and  voted  on  by 
the  delegates  of  each  denomination  meeting  separately.  In 
this  way  the  three  denominations  approved  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  Doctrine;  that  on  Polity  was  accepted  as  the 
basis  for  further  consideration  by  the  Committee;  that  on 
Vested  Interests,  which  simply  declared  that  they  found  no 
insuperable  obstacles  and  desired  time  for  further  investiga- 
tion, was  approved.  The  subject  of  a  name  for  the  united 
body  was  left  to  a  separate  committee.  The  committees  were 
continued,  and  Math  much  enthusiasm  and  deep  gratitude  to 
God  for  the  success  of  their  labors  the  General  .Council  ad- 
jounied  to  meet  at  the  call  of  the  chairman,  the  three  commit- 
tees on  Creed,  Polity  and  Vested  Interests  being  authorized  to 
continue  their  work  in  the  meantime  and  report  at  the  ad- 
journed meting. 

The  reports  of  the  three  committees,  as  accepted  by  the 
General  Council,  were  Avidely  published  in  the  denominational 
journals  and  received  much  attention,  discussion  being  espec- 
ially directed  to  that  on  Polity. 

The  second  General  Council  of  the  three  churches  was 
called  to  meet  in  Chicago,  March  19-21,  1907.  to  hear  the  re- 
port of  their  committees.  There  were  present  118  delegates 
appointed  from  the  Congregational  churches,  and  a  propor- 
tionate number  from  the  two  other  denominations.  After  full 
discussion  for  three  days,  by  the  sub-committees  on  Legal  Re- 
lations, Publication  Operations,  Benevolent  Societies  and  Edu- 
cational Institutions,  herewith  appended,  and  the  Committee 


198    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

on  Polity,  and  the  further  discussion  of  the  reports  in  the  full 
committee  of  sixty-three,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  members  of 
the  Council  who  desired  to  attend,  the  following  "Act  of 
Union,"  reported  by  the  special  Committee  on  Polity,  ap- 
proved by  the  Committee  of  sixty- three  in  accord  Avith  the 
report  of  the  Committees  on  Vested  Interests  and  Legal  Ques- 
tions, and  embracing  the  recommendations  of  the  committees 
on  Name  and  Doctrinal  Statement,  was  unanimously  adopted 
by  the  Council  and  recommended  for  adoption  by  the  national 
bodies  of  the  three  denominations,  ast  follows : 

ACT  OF  UNION 

Between  the   Congregational   Churches,  the  Church   of  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ,  and  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

We,  the  representatives  of  the  Congregational  Churches,  the 
Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  and  the  Methodist  Pro- 
testant Church,  believing  that  we  can  do  more  to  promote  the  work 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  world  by  uniting  than  by  continu- 
ing our  separate  existence  as  denominations  as  heretofore,  and 
being  of  one  accord  in-the  desire  to  realize  our  Lord's  prayer,  "that 
they  all  may  be  one,"  having  already  at  the  first  meeting  of  this 
council  entered  into  a  common  Declaration  of  Faith  hereinafter  set 
forth,  do  now,  in  order  to  bring  about  an  organic  union,  propose 
to  our  respective  denominations  the  Articles  of  Agreement  herein- 
after set  forth. 

DECLARATION  OF  FAITH 

We,  the  representatives  of  the  Congregational  Churches,  the 
Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  and  the  Methodist  Pro- 
testant Church,  rejoice  at  this  time  to  enter  into  union  with  one  an- 
other, through  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  love  of 
God,  and  for  fellowship  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  this  solemn  act  of 
faith  and  obedience  towards  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  we  do 
most  humbly  and  confidently  make  confession  of  our  faith  and 
heartily  renew  the  consecration  of  our  lives  to  Him  and  to  the  ser- 
vice of  mankind. 

1.  Our  bond  of  union  consists  in  that  inward  personal  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  as  our  divine  Saviour  and  Lord  on  which  all  our 
churches  are  founded;  also  in  our  acceptance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  the  inspired  source  of  our  faith  and  the  supreme  standard  of 
Christian  truth;  and  further,  in  our  consent  to  the  teaching  of  the 
ancient  symbols  of  the  undivided  Church,  and  to  that  substance  of 
Christian  doctrine  which  is  common  to  the  creeds  and  confessions 


THE  DAYTON  DECLARATION  199 

which  we  have  inherited  from  the  past.  But  we  humbly  depend,  as 
did  our  fathers,  on  the  continued  guidance  of  the  Holv  Spirit  to  lead 
us  into  all  the  truth. 

2.  We  believe  that  God.  the  Father  and  Lord  of  all,  did  send 
his  son  Jesus  Christ  to  redeem  us  from  sin  and  death  by  the  per- 
fect obedience  of  his  holy  will  in  life,  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself  on 
the  cross,  and  by  his  glorious  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

3.  We  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  God  and  Christ 
moves  in  the  hearts  of  men,  calling  them  through  the  gospel  to 
repentance  and  faith,  awakening  in  them  spiritual  sorrow  for  past 
sin  and  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God,  together  with  new  desires 
and  a  new  power  to  obey  his  will. 

4.  We  believe  that  those  of  the  sons  of  me.n  who,  hearing  God's 
call  of  divine  love,  do  heartily  put  their  trust  in  the  Saviour  whom 
his  love  provided,  are  assured  by  his  word  of  his  most  fatherly  for- 
giveness, of  his  free  and  perfect  favor,  of  the  presence  of  his  spirit 
in  their  hearts,  and  of  a  blessed  immortality. 

5.  We  believe  that  all  who  are,  through  faith,  the  children 
of  God,  constitute  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  spiritual  body  of  which 
he  is  the  head;  that  he  has  appointed  them  to  proclaim  his  gospel 
to  all  mankind,  to  manifest  in  their  character  and  conduct  the  fruit 
of  his  spirit;  that  he  has  granted  them  freedom  to  create  such  of- 
fices and  institutions  as  may  in  each  generation  serve  unto  those 
ends,  and  that  for  the  comfort  of  our  faith  he  has  given  to  his 
Church  the  sacred  ordinances  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

6.  We  believe  that  according  to  Christ's  law  me,n  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  exist  for  the  service  of  man,  not  only  in  holding  forth  the 
word  of  life,  but  in  the  support  of  works  and  institutions  of  pity 
and  charity,  in  the  maintenance  of  human  freedom,  in  the  deliver- 
ance of  all  those  that  are  oppressed,  in  the  enforcement  of  civic 
justice,  in  the  rebuke  of  all  unrighteousness. 

Possessed  of  these  convictions,  both  as  truths  which  we  do 
most  firmly  hold  and  acts  of  faith  which  spring  from  our  hearts,  we 
do,  therefore,  in  the  happy  consummation  of  this  union,  and  in'  the 
name  of  all  the  churches  which  we  represent,  commit  ourselves, 
body,  soul,  and  spirit  to  the  faith,  love,  and  service  of  him  who  made 
us  and  saved  us,  the  everlasting  God,  our  Father,  Redeemer,  and 
Lord.  To  him  be  ascribed  all  praise,  and  dominion,  and  glory 
world  without  end.    Amen. 

This  Declaration  of  Faith,  almost  if  not  entirely  the  work 
of  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  of  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary,  met  with  immediate  favor,  and  had  the  merger  of 
the  three  denominations  taken  place,  this  would  have  been 
their  confession  of  faith. 

The  Committee  on  Comity,  Federation  and  Unity  pre- 
8ent€d  a  full  report  to  the  National  Council  in  Cleveland. 


200    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  action  thus  talcen  was  widely  published  in  the  denom- 
inational press  and  elsewhere.  The  Congregational  delegates 
in  attendance  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  Dr.  Wash- 
ington Gladden,  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie  and  Dr. 
Asher  Anderson,  to  prepare  a  letter  to  the  churches  detailing 
what  was  done  and  what  was  its  purpose  and  bearing.  This 
was  done  and  the  letter  was  widely  distributed.  Vai'ious  con- 
ferences and  churches  took  action  on  the  subject  in  1907,  and 
recommended  the  following  action: 

Voted:  That  this  National  Council  heartily  approves  the 
proposed  Act  of  Union  between  the  Congregational  Churches, 
the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ  and  the  Methodist 
Protestant  Churches  and  recommends  that  our  conference  and 
churches  and  our  benevolent  societies  accept  such  corporate 
union  between  the  three  denominations. 

Voted:  That  the  Committee  on  Federation,  Comity  and 
Unity  be  authorized  to  act  in  behalf  of  this  National  Council 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  consummation  of  this  proposed 
union  and  in  the  further  advancement  of  the  cause  of  comity, 
federation  or  unity  of  our  various  Christian  bodies. 

The  proposed  merger,  however,  did  not  meet  with  favor  in 
the  Council  on  the  terms  proposed.  The  final  action  at  Cleve- 
land Avas  embodied  in  the  report  of  a  Committee  of  twenty- 
eight,  as  follows : 

REPORT  OP  THE  COMMITTEE  OP  TWENTY-EIGHT 

The  Committee  of  Twenty-Eight,  to  which  was  referred  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  on  Comity,  Federation,  and  Unity,  begs  leave 
to  report  that  it  has  had  that  document  under  prolonged  consider- 
ation. Y7e  express  our  high  appreciation  of  the  admirable  rehearsal 
of  the  Federation  movement  and  the  Tri-Church  Union  movement, 
and  the  distinguished  services  of  the  committee  to  both  causes.  The 
resolution  concerning  federation,  presented  by  the  committee,  has 
already  been  reported  by  the  Coimcil.  For  the  rest,  your  committee 
now  reporting  recommends  the  adoption  by  the  Council  of  the  fol- 
lowing minutes  and  resolutions: 

The  National  Council  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  the 
United  States,  in  session  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  October  8-17,  1907,  hav- 
ing heard  a  remarkable  volume  of  testimony  from  all  parts  of  the 


THE  DAYTON  DECLARATION  201 

country,  hereby  records  its  conviction  that  our  churches  will  go 
forward  to  consummate  union  with  the  Church  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren, in  Christ  and  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

We  recognize  in  the  Act  of  Union  adopted  by  the  General  Coun- 
cil of  the  United  Churches  at  Chicago  the  fundamental  principles 
by  which  such  union  must  be  accomplished.  The  aim  of  that  act 
is  the  desire  of  our  churches.  The  act  provides  for  a  representa- 
tive council  of  the  united  churches,  combines  their  benevolent  acti- 
vities, and  conserves  their  vested  interests.  It  makes  provision  for 
the  gradual  amalgamation  of  their  state  and  local  organizations, 
leaving  the  people  of  each  locality  free  to  choose  their  own  times 
and  methods  for  the  completion  of  such  unions.  It  contemplates, 
as  the  result  of  a  continued  fellowship  of  worship  and  work,  a 
blending  of  the  three  denominations  into  one.  This  is  the  end  to 
which  the  Act  of  Union  looks  forward,  and  these  are  essential 
means   of   its   accomplishment. 

We  recognize,  that,  for  the  consummation  of  this  union,  each 
denomination  is  prepared  to  modify  its  administrative  forms.  Among 
our  ministers  and  churches  there  have  arisen  divergent  opinions 
both  as  to  the  interpretation  of  certain  clauses  and  as  to  the  effect 
of  certain  provisions  in  the.  Act  of  Union;  while  of  some  details 
therein  proposed  important  criticisms  have  been  made. 

We  recognize,  further,  that  the  other  church  bodies,  when  they 
convene  for  consideration  of  the  Act  of  Union,  may  likewise  find 
that  certain  of  its  features  can  bo  improved. 

We,  therefore,  invite  the  other  two  denominations  to  unite  with 
us  in  referring  the  Act  of  Union  to  the  General  Council  of  the 
United  Churches,  to  afford  opportunity  for  perfecting  the  plan  of 
union;  the  General  Council  to  report  its  results  to  the  national 
body  of  each  denomination. 

We  also  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions: 

1.  That  the  Committee  on  Comity,  Federation,  and  Unity  to 
be  appointed  by  this  Council  be  authorized  to  act  with  representa- 
tives of  the  other  two  denominations  in  procuring  the,  reassembling 
of  the  General  Council  of  the  United  Churches,  and  also  to  act  in 
behalf  of  the  National  Council  in  aiding  the  consummation  of  the 
proposed  union,  and  in  the  further  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
Comity,    Federation,    and    Unity    among   various    Christian    bodies. 

2.  That,  in  case  the  committee  on  Comity,  Federation,  and 
Unity  find  it  desiiable  to  add  to  its  member-s  for  special  service,  it 
have  authority  to  do  so. 

3.  That  our  membership  in  subsequent  meetings  of  the  General 
Council  of  the  United  Churches  be  thoroughly  representative  of 
our  churches  and  elect  in  their  state  organizations,  the  securing  of 
such  elections  on  a  proper  ratio  of  representation  in  the  various 
state  bodies,  and  the  filling  of  vacancies,  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
Provisional  Committee. 

4.  That  a  committee  consisting  of  Rev.  Drs.  Washington  Glad- 
den, William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  and  William  Hayes  Ward  be  ap- 
pointed to  present  this  action  to  the  United  Brethren  and  the 
Methodist  Protestant  church. 


202    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  report  is  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  committee  who 
were  present  at  the  conclusion  of  the  discussion,  namely: 

Rev.   Nehemiah   Boynton,   Chairman. 

Rev.  William   E.   Barton,   Secretary. 
Rev.   C.   S.   Nash 
Rev.  Geo.  E.  Hall 
Rev.  C.  S.  Mills 
Rev.  Washington  Gladden 
Rev.  W.  D.  Mackenzie 
Rev.  J.  W.  Bradshaw 
Mr.  C.  H.  Rutan 
Rev.  C.  E.  Jefferson 
Rev.  S.  B.  L.  Penrose 
Rev.  J.  W.  Strong 
Hon.  J.  M.  Whitehead 
Rev.  C.  L.  Morgan 
Mr.  Rossiter  W.  Raymond 
Rev.  P.  S.  Moxom 
Rev.  A.  T.  Perry 
Hon.  J.  H.  Perry 
Rev.   W.  H.   Day 
Rev.  H.  H.  Proctor 
Mr.  W.  H.  Laird 
Mr.  E,  P.  Johnson 
Mr.  C.  M.  Vial 
Mr.  C.  C.  Morgan 

The  two  other  denominations  then  withdrew  from  the  ne- 
gotiations, and  the  proposed  union  came  to  a  halt.  Techni- 
cally, the  General  Council  of  the  three  churches  is  still  in 
existence,  ready  to  go  forward  to  organic  union.  Practically 
all  thought  of  such  union  is  now  dismissed. 

With  the  ending  of  the  negotiations  looking  toward  the 
union  of  the  three  denominations,  the  Dayton  Declaration 
became  less  prominent  as  a  Congregational  Confession.  It 
was  several  times  proposed  that  it  be  incorporated  in  the  Na- 
tional Council  Constitution  as  the  expression  of  faith  of  that 
body,  but  such  use  of  it  did  not  appear  expedient,  and  a  new 
confession  of  faith  at  length  came  into  being  in  1913. 


IX.    THE  KANSAS  CITY  CREED  OF  1913 

The  Creed  of  1913,  sometimes  called  the  Kansas  City 
Creed,  grew  out  of  a  revision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Na- 
tional Council,  prepared  by  a  Commission  of  Nineteen  on 
Polity  appointed  by  the  Council  at  Boston  in  1910.  The  Com- 
mission consisted  of  the  following : 

President  Frank  K.  Sanders,  D.  D.,  Kansas,  Chairman 

Rev.  William  E.  Barton,  D.  D,,  Illinois,  Secretary 

President  Charles  S.  Nash,  D.  D.,  California 

Professor  Williston  Walker,  D.  D.,  Connecticut 

Mr.  William  W.  Mills,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Henry  A.  Stimson,  D.  D.,  New  York 

Rev.  Oliver  Huckel,  D.  D.,  Mainland 

Dr.  Lucien  C.  Warner,  LL.  D.,  New  York 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Mills,  D.  D.,  IVIiissouri 

Rev.  Rockwell  H.  Potter,  D.  D.,  Connecticut 

Hon.  John  M.  Whitehead,  Wisconsin 

Mr.  Frank  Kimball,  Illinois 

Hon.  Henrj'  H.  Beardsley,  Missouri 

Prof.  Henry  H.  Kelsey,  D.  D.,  Ohio 

President  Edward  D.  Eaton,  D.  D.,  Wisconsin 

Rev.  Nehemiah  Boynton,  D.  D.,  New  York 

Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.  D.,  Massachusetts 

Hon.  Arthur  H.  Wellman,  Massachusetts 

Rev.  Raymond  Calkins,  D.  D.,  Maine. 

The  Committee  on  Constitution  consisted  of  R^v.  William 
E.  Barton,  D.  D.,  chairman.  President  Edward  D.  Eaton,  D.D., 
and  Senator  John  M.  Whitehead.    The  Commission  made  its 

203 


204     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

first  report  in  a  pamphlet  distributed  early  in  January,  1911, 
in  which  the  article  on  ''Faith"  was  as  follows: 

Believing  in  the  love  of  God  our  Father,  and  in  the  revelation 
of  that  love  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Loi-d,  we  confess  our  faith  in  Him; 
and  living  together  in  the  fellowship  and  service  of  the  spirit  of 
God,  will  strive  to  know  our  duty  as  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  made  known  and  to  be  made 
known  to  us;  and  with  loyalty  to  God,  and  love  for  all  mankind, 
will  labor  for  that  righteousness  which  is  profitable,  for  the  life  that 
now  is,  and  has  promise  for  the  life  everlasting. 

This  was  approved  by  the  Commission  and  passed  almost 
without  criticism  when  circulated  at  large.  For  something 
like  eighteen  months  the  matter  of  the  confession  of  faith  de- 
veloped practically  no  discussion  until  May  1912,  when  the  Chi- 
cago Ministers'  Union  recommended  that  the  Confession  bo 
made  more  Christological. 

The  publication  of  this  resolution  was  the  beginning  of  a 
general  discussion  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as  the  result  of 
which  there  appeared  a  general  desire  that  the  declaration  be 
put  into  creedal  form.  It  was  then  rewritten  and  approved  by 
the  Commission  at  a  meeting  in  Detroit,  in  January,  1913, 
and  again  published  for  discussion.  Interest  in  the  Confession 
of  Faith  grew  steadily,  until  that  which  at  the  beginning  had 
been  a  quite  inconspicuous  part  of  the  Committee's  work  be- 
came at  the  end  the  center  of  chief  interest.  After  further 
discussion,  and  some  amendment,  it  was  adopted  by  the  Na- 
tional Council  at  Kansas  City,  October  25,  1913.  Though 
prepared  with  sole  reference  to  its  availability  as  a  par-t  of  a 
business  document,  it  has  proved  acceptable  to  the  churches 
for  other  and  varied  uses,  and  is  finding  increasing  favor  by 
reason  of  its  comprehensiveness  and  general  adaptability.  This 
Confession  is  as  follows: 

We  believe  in  God  the  Father,  infinite  in  wisdom,  goodness  and 
love;  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  who  for 
us  and  our  salvation  lived  and  died  and  rose  again  and  liveth  ever- 
more; and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  taketh  of  the  things  of  Christ  and 
revealeth    them    to    us,    renewing,    comforting   and    inspiring   the 


THE    KANSAS    CITY    CREED    OF    1913  205 

souls  of  men.  We  are  united  in  striving  to  know  the  will  of  God 
as  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptureis,  and  in  our  purpose  to  walk  in 
the  ways  of  the  Lord,  made  known  or  to  be  made  known  to  us.  We 
hold  it  to  be  the  mission  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  proclaim  the 
gospel  to  all  mankind,  exalting  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God, 
and  laboring  for  the  progress  of  knowledge,  the  promotion  of  jus- 
tice, the  reign  of  peace  and  the  realization  of  human  brotherhood. 
Depending,  as  did  our  fathers,  upon  the  continued  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  lead  us  into  all  truth,  we  work  and  pray  for  the 
transformation  of  the  world  into  the  kingdom  of  God;  and  we  look 
with  faith  for  the  triumph  of  righteousness  and  the  life  everlasting. 

The  opening  sentence  of  the  Constitution  of  the  National 
Council  declares  "the  steadfast  allegiance  of  the  churches 
composing  this  Council  to  the  faith  which  our  fathers  con- 
fessed, which  from  age  to  age  has  found  its  expression  in  the 
historic  creeds  of  the  Church  universal  and  of  this  commun- 
ion." It  has  been  asked  whether  there  exists  any  conflict 
between  this  sentence  and  the  creed  itself.  No  such  conflict 
exists.  The  allegiance  thus  declared  is  not  to  the  creeds  them- 
selves, but  to  the  essential  faith  which  from  age  to  age  has 
been  expressed,  more  or  less  adequately,  in  these  earlier  creeds. 
Of  that  same  essential  faith  this  latest  creed  is  intended  to  be 
a  simple  expression.  As  men  in  earlier  days  confessed  their 
faith,  employing  the  language  of  their  own  times,  ' '  We  having 
the  same  spirit  of  faith,"  "believe  and  also  speak"  in  the 
language  of  our  own  generation.  We  dip  our  cups  in  the 
same  stream  from  which  they  drank;  but  our  faith  is  not  in 
the  cup,  though  we  do  not  despise  either  their  cup  or  our 
own;  our  faith  is  in  the  Fountain  of  truth,  which  has  more 
of  depth  and  volume  than  either  their  creed  or  ours  could 
measure. 


X.     SUMMARY  OF  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE 

A  recent  and  very  wide  survey  of  Congregational  usage 
with  respect  to  the  employment  of  creeds  and  covenants  may 
be  briefly  summarized.  To  the  following  statements  there 
may  be  some  few  exceptions,  but  if  so  they  are  infrequent. 

In  the  beginning  no  Congregational  church  had  a  creed. 
Both  in  England  and  in  America,  as  well  as  while  in  exile  on 
the  continent,  the  Congregational  churches  were  founded  upon 
covenants  entirely  free  from  doctrinal  affinnations.  While 
these  churches  did  not  underestimate  the  value  of  correct 
thinking  in  doctrinal  matters,  they  never  made  such  thinking 
the  test  of  fitness  for  membership  in  Christ's  Church.  They 
considered  themselves  in  essential  agreement,  doctrinally,  with 
other  Christians,  and  had  no  thought  or  purpose  of  founding 
sectarian  churches.  This  may  be  said  to  summarize  a  usage 
practically  universal  in  Congregationalism  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years  irora  the  rise  of  Congregational  churches  in 
England  to  the  outbreak  of  the  Unitarian  controversy. 

The  early  Baptist  covenants  appear  generally  to  have  been 
signed  by  members  of  the  church.  The  Congregational  cove- 
nants as  a  rule  were  not  signed,  but  verbal  assent  to  them  was 
given.  They  were  changed  when  new  pastors  came,  and  now 
and  then  a  pastor  thought  himself  able  to  improve  upon  the 
form  of  covenant  he  had  previously  employed  and  wrote  a 
new  one.  It  would  appear  that  in  Robert  Browne's  church  a 
written  covenant  was  read  aloud  and  each  section  was  ex- 
plained by  the  minister,  and  then  assented  to  by  the  brethren. 
Francis  Johnson's  covenant,  of  1591,  was  written  to  be  signed. 
Some  of  the  early  covenants  contain  the  words,  "We  whose 
nam^  are  underwritten"  but  without  signatures.    The  Old 

206 


SUMMARY  OF  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  207 

South  covenant  would  appear  from  its  form  to  have  been  in- 
tended for  signature,  but  was  not  subscribed.  In  a  few  in- 
stances the  covenant  was  signed  by  the  original  members  of  the 
church,  but  those  who  joined  later  signified  their  assent  to  it 
verbally. 

We  have  seen  in  what  manner  the  members  of  the  London 
church,  established  by  Henry  Jacob,  consented  to  their  cove- 
nant, standing  in  a  circle  with  their  hands  joined. 

It  appears  that  the  covenant  document  was  generally 
written  on  a  loose  sheet  of  paper  from  which  it  could  conven- 
iently be  read  by  the  minister.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  ease  of  the 
Salem  church,  the  minister  wrote  out  as  many  copies  of  the 
covenant  as  there  were  members  to  be  received. 

There  appeared  in  London  in  1647,  "A  brief  narration 
of  the  practices  of  the  churches  in  New  England."  John 
Cotton  quotes  it  in  his  ' '  Way. ' '  In  this  it  is  stated  that  after 
membei"8  have  made  their  individual  confession  of  faith  ' '  they 
enter  into  a  sacred  and  solemn  covenant ....  agreed  on  be- 
fore amongst  themselves,  then  read  it  before  the  assembly,  and 
then  either  subscribe  their  hands  to  it,  or  testify  by  word  of 
mouth  their  agreement  thereto."  This  shows  that  such  cove- 
nants were  occasionally  subscribed,  but  Lechford's  "Plain 
Dealing"  gives  what  was  undoubtedly  the  rule:  "And  then 
the  elder  calleth  all  them  that  are  to  be  admitted  by  name, 
and  rehearseth  the  covenant  on  their  part  to  them,  which  they 
publicly  say  they  do  promise  by  the  help  of  God  to  perform. 
And  then  the  elder,  in  the  name  of  the  church,  promiseth  the 
church's  part  of  the  covenant,  to  the  new  admitted  members. 
So  they  are  received  or  admitted. ' ' 

We  are  reliably  informed  that  when  occasion  seemed  to 
justify  it,  a  silent  or  implicit  assent  was  accepted.  In  short, 
while  the  covenant  idea  was  held  in  the  very  highest  regard, 
there  appears  to  have  been  little  concern  as  to  the  form  of  the 
document  or  the  manner  of  its  acceptance.  A  reasonable 
degree  of  flexibility  prevailed. 


208     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

In  its  original  intent,  the  covenant  onoe  assented  to  re- 
mained pei-petually  in  force  and  needed  no  renewal,  but  it 
often  oecured  that  covenants  were  renewed,  with  or  without 
change  in  their  phraseology.  Sometimes  a  new  pastor  would 
ask  the  church  to  join  him  in  a  new  and  perhaps  more  ex- 
plicit covenant,  as  Hugh  Peter  did  at  Salem.  Sometimes  a 
church,  feeling  that  it  had  not  been  faithful  to  its  covenant, 
would  voluntarily  renew  the  covenant.  We  have  two  accounts 
of  the  renewal  of  the  Noi-wich  covenant  in  1669  and  1675, 
both  recorded  by  Joseph  Rix : 

And  in  the  Conclusion  of  the  fast  day  [Dec.  28,  1669]  it  was 
moued  by  some  brethre.n  and  so  propounded  by  the  Pastor  to  the 
Church  to  renue  their  Couenant  which  was  asented  vnto  by  the 
whole  brethren  present  (except  br.  Kinge  &  br.  Will  Hardy  who 
did  both  declare  their  desentt),  notwithstanding  the  Church  did  pro- 
ceed in  the  worke  And  the  Pastor  haueing  mentioned  the  sume  of 
the  Couenant  in  shortt  it  was  asented  vnto  by  the  whole  by  the 
signs  of  Lifting  vp  their  hand  except  the  two  brethren  belore  men- 
tioned. 

And  towards  the  Close  of  ye  day  [Oct.  13,  1675]  (as  it  was 
formerly  Concluded)  the  Church  did  renue  their  Couenant  after 
this  manner,  the  Couenant  was  read  out  of  this  booke  Contayning 
seuerall  Articells  being  the  same  Couenant  and  Articells  of  Agree- 
ment that  was  entred  into  at  ye  first  sitting  down  of  this  church 
in  ye  year  of  our  Lord  1644,  and  after  the  reading  thereof  the  whole 
church  (then  present)  both  brethren  and  sisters  did,  as  a  sign  of 
their  mutuall  Couenant  lift  up  their  right  hands,  and  so  the  meeting 
was  concluded  with  prayer  and  thanksgiving  vnto  the  Lord. — "Some 
Account  of  the  Nonconformist  Churches  at  Hail  Weston  &  St. 
Neots,"  etc.,  pp.  51,  52,  and  54,  55. 

It  is  interesting  to  find  now  and  then  a  note  which  indi- 
cates with  what  good  sense  exceptions  were  made  to  the  general 
custom  of  oral  confession.  In  1630,  the  church  at  Charlesto'vvn 
was  organized  and  it  later  became  the  First  Church  in  Boston. 
John  Cotton,  the  pastor,  made  a  profession  of  his  own  views, 
but  asked  for  his  wife  that  she  be  not  required  to  submit  to  a 
public  examination ;  whereupon  sihe  was  asked  if  she  assented 
to  the  confession  made  by  her  husband ;  and  it  is  to  be  inferred 
that  she  did.  Cotton  Mather  tells  us  that  some  were  admitted 
by  expressing  their  consent  to  the  covenant,  that  others  an- 


SUMMARY  OF  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  209 

swered  questions  propounded  to  them,  and  others  wrote  their 
own  views,  or  delivered  them  orally,  "Which  diversity  waa 
perhaps  more  beautiful  than  would  have  been  a  more  punc- 
tilious uniformity."  Magnalia,  I.,  iv.,  7).  We  find  an  in- 
stance of  a  Mr.  Lindall  of  Boston  who  wi'ote  his  profession  of 
faith  because  "he  had  not  an  audible  voice"  and  the  pastor 
read  it  for  him. 

Our  oldest  Congregational  covenants  are  mutual  cove- 
nants, framed  to  be  used  at  the  organization  of  a  church ;  but 
it  is  evident  that  before  long,  covenants  were  drawn  in  which 
response  was  made  on  behalf  of  the  church.  The  oldest  record 
we  have  of  this  is  in  Lechford's  "Plain  Dealing,"  published 
in  London  in  1642,  in  which  he  declares  the  custom  in  New 
England  to  have  been  that  after  the  newly  elected  member 
had  ascented  to  the  covenant  "the  elder  in  the  name  of  the 
church  promiseth  the  church's  part  of  the  covenant  to  the  new 
admitted  members."  It  is  interesting  to  find  that  thus  early 
a  response  was  made  on  behalf  of  the  church.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, that  in  a  great  many  churches  there  was  no  such  response. 
Oilman  in  his  article  in  The  Congregational  Quarterly  in  1862, 
states  that  the  Fitehburg  fonnulas  had  no  response  of  the 
church  to  the  members,  and  that  there  was  no  such  response 
in  the  First  Church  of  Bangor  before  1850,  nor  in  Norwich 
First  prior  to  1817  or  perhaps  before  1825,  nor  in  Norwich 
Second  until  1829,  nor  in  Torrington,  Connecticut,  in  its  Man- 
ual issued  in  1852.  The  Rutland,  Vermont,  association  in 
1838  recommended  "that  the  church  rise  in  token  of  their 
cordial  approbation,  while  the  minister  says,  'We  do  now 
publically  declare  our  reception  of  you  as  a  member  of  the 
Christian  church,  in  full  communion.'  " 

The  churches  West  of  New  England  seem  quite  uniformly 
to  have  had  responses  indicative  of  the  reciprocal  relation- 
ship established  by  the  covenant.  This  appears  to  have  been 
the  case  in  Chicago  First,  Jackson  and  Deti-oit,  Mich.,  and 


210    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

other  of  the  older  churches,  whose  manuals  were  in  frequent 
use  as  models  for  other  churches. 

Now  and  then,  we  find  a  church  in  which  the  church  part 
of  the  covenant  was  not  read  by  the  pastor  alone,  but  recited 
in  unison  by  the  whole  body  of  the  church  membership.  This 
has  been  the  custom  in  First  Church  of  Oak  Park  since  its 
organization  in  1863. 

The  Unitarian  movement,  while  spiritually  a  secession 
from  historic  Congregationalisim,  became,  by  virtue  of  the  un- 
righteous Dedham  decision,  a  virtual  secession  of  orthodox 
Congregationalism  from  churches  that  had  become  Unitarian. 
The  old  churches  in  becoming  Unitarian  retained  their  historic 
covenants  in  general  without  change,  and  the  newly  organized 
orthodox  churches  asf  a  rule  adopted  creeds  and  required  as- 
sent to  them  on  the  part  of  all  their  members.  This  was  a 
natural  but  violent  reaction  against  a  condition  which  had 
cost  the  denomination  the  loss  of  so  many  churches  and  min- 
isters, and  it  represented  a  departure  from  historic  Congre- 
gationalism. 

Center  Church,  New  Haven,  has  undergone  quite  an  evo- 
lution so  far  as  creed  and  covenant  is  concerned.  It  was  es- 
tablished by  John  Davenport  upon  the  basis  of  a  simple  non- 
theological  covenant,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Boston  and 
Salem  churches.  Later,  a  theological  creed  was  introduced 
and  was  applied  as  a  test  of  membership. 

During  the  days  of  the  Unitarian  controversy,  this  creed 
became  more  and  more  Calvinistic.  Later  it  was  revised  and 
finally  the  Apostles'  Creed  was  substituted.  This  would  not 
have  been  entirely  objectionable,  except  for  the  fact  that  can- 
didates, uniting  on  confession  of  faith,  were  required  to  ex- 
press their  belief  through  the  medium  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 
This,  many  persons,  who  were  excellent  Christians,  were  un- 
able to  do,  and  as  a  result  a  great  number  of  men  and  women 
— some  of  the  best  in  the  community,  thoroughly  devoted 
to  religion  and  loyal  to  Jesus  Christ — were  not  church  mem- 
bers. 


SUMMARY  OF  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  211 

Several  years  ago,  when  Davenport  and  Center  Church 
united,  the  creedal  test  was  entirely  removed  and  the  church 
went  back  again  to  a  simple  covenant,  similar  to  that  upon 
which  it  had  been  founded. 

The  creeds  in  effect  at  the  time  of  this  change  were  not 
abrogated.  They  were  simply  removed  as  tests.  In  other 
words.  Center  Church  has  held  that  there  are  two  factors  in- 
volved in  church  membership.  In  the  first  place  there  is  that 
which  is  required  of  the  candidate,  and  in  this  the  church 
holds  with  the  old  Cambridge  Platform  that  "The  least  meas- 
ure of  faith  should  be  considered  sufficient  to  render  the  candi- 
date eligible  to  church  membership,  provided  he  show  the 
Christian  spirit. ' '  In  the  second  place,  there  is  that  which  the 
church  offera  to  the  candidate,  and  in  this  the  church  seeks 
to  offer  all  that  the  past  history  of  the  Christian  church  can 
give. 

In  the  history  of  our  denomination.  Park  Street  Church  in 
Boston  has  an  important,  and  for  the  purposes  of  this  nar- 
rative, a  distinguished  and  unique  place. 

Park  Street  Church  was  organized  at  a  time  when  all 
our  oldest  Congregational  churches  in  Boston,  with  the  sin- 
gle exception  of  the  Old  South,  had  swung  or  were  swinging 
into  the  Unitarian  movement.  Its  services  to  the  cause  of 
orthodox  Christianity  can  never  be  overrated,  and  it  was 
natui-al  that  at  that  time  it  should  have  adopted  terms  of  ad- 
mission to  membership  based  on  doctrinal  assent.  It  is  proba- 
bly this  which  caused  the  Old  South  and  Federal  Street  to 
decline  to  participate  in  its  public  services  of  recognition.  The 
creed  which  it  adopted  in  1811  was  ^^Titten  by  its  first  pastor. 
Dr.  Griffin  (See  Memoir  of  Dr.  Griffin  i,  102-6.)  w^as  replaced 
in  1873  by  a  much  more  simple  statement  of  belief ;  but  while 
this  simpler  form  sufficed  as  the  basis  for  admission  to  mem- 
bership, the  church  still  required  its  minister  and  deacons  to 
subscribe  to  the  original  statement  of  1811. 


212    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

That  the  plan  adopted  by  Park  Street  involved  a  radical 
departure  from  historic  Congregational  precedence  is  beyond 
question.  The  founders  of  Park  Street  believed  that  the  older 
system,  had  proved  inadequate  to  prevent  the  rise  of  Unitarian- 
ism,  and  that  a  new  method  involving  stiff  doctrinal  conditions 
of  membership  was  necessary.  It  was,  however,  not  the  lax- 
ness  of  the  covenants  which  produced  Unitarianism,  but  the 
hyper-Calvinism  of  the  preaching  of  that  period.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion therefore  whether  the  right  remedy  was  found  for  an  ad- 
mittedly gi'ave  evil.  Commenting  upon  the  organization  of 
Park  Street  and  the  requirements  for  membership,  Mr.  Hill 
in  his  history  of  the  Old  South  says : 

' '  Until  this  time  the  terms  of  admission  to  membership  in 
the  churches  of  Boston  had  been  plain  and  simple — repentance 
toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Candidates 
had  been  required,  not  to  give  definite  and  particular  assent 
to  a  system  of  divinity  embodied  in  a  dogmatic  creed,  but  to 
enter  into  a  covenant  in  the  exercise  of  a  living  faith,  and  in 
a  spirit  of  holy  consecration,  in  solemn  and  beautiful  language, 
adopted  by  the  fathers  when  the  broad  foundations  of  New 
England  Congregationalism  were  laid.  It  has  been  well  said 
that  creeds  are  for  testimony,  not  for  tests ;  but  the  new  church 
was  established  on  the  principle  that  they  are  for  testsi,  as  well 
as  testimony.  It  not  only  declared  its  adherance  to  the  doc- 
trines of  religion  as  they  are  'in  general  clearly  and  happily 
expressed'  in  the  Westminister  shorter  Catechism,  and  in  the 
Confession  of  faith  of  1680,  but  it  formulated  these  doctrines 
in  a  symbol  of  its  own,  emphasizing  especially  the  tri-person- 
ality  of  the  Godhead,  election  (with  its  necessary  correlary — 
reprobation),  and  imputed  righteousness.  And  it  went  fur- 
ther :  It  required  subscription  both  to  the  general  statements 
and  to  its  owm  particular  confession,  as  a  condition  precedent 
to  membership." — ii,  341. 

A  thoughtful  survey  of  the  situation  with  respect  to  creed 
subscription  as  a  condition  of  church  membership,  was  made 


SUMMARY  OP  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  213 

in  an  article  by  Rev.  Edward  D.  Oilman,  of  Bangor,  in  the 
Congregational  Quarterly,  for  April,  1862.  He  showed  origi- 
nally the  Congregational  churches  had  no  creed,  and  set  forth 
the  exceptional  instances  in  which  confessions  had  been  used 
among  them.  He  quoted  from  many  of  the  older  covenants 
and  showed  how  even  in  Franklin,  Mass.,  during  the  whole  of 
the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Emmons,  to  whom,  perhaps,  more  than 
any  one  man,  unless  it  were  Dr.  Griffin,  of  Park  Street,  Con- 
gregationalism was  indebted  for  the  idea  of  creed  subscription 
as  a  basis  of  church  membership,  the  sole  doctrinal  condition 
was  in  the  most  general  terms,  recognizing  that  ''there  are 
different  apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  great  and  wise  men, 
even  in  the  doctrinals  of  religion. ' '  He  showed  how  in  many 
churches  the  change  had  come  about  almost  unconsciously.  He 
illustrates  this  process  by  the  church  in  Fitzwilliam,  N.  H., 
which  originally  had  no  creed,  then  in  1813  adopted  one  by 
a  small  majority,  then  in  1823  received  people  apparently 
without  any  statement  of  religious  belief,  and  eighteen  months 
later  permitted  a  candidate  to  confess  his  faith  in  terms  of  the 
Confession  of  1813  "in  whole  or  in  part  as  he  might  choose," 
and  ended  with  the  adoption  of  a  briefer  confession  of  faith. 
He  showed  this  rather  strikingly  among  other  things  that  in 
proportion  as  creeds  become  a  test  they  cease  to  be  a  testimony. 
One  of  two  things  seemed  sure  to  happen;  either  the  church 
disregarded  its  written  creed,  and  assent  to  it  became  a  mere 
form,  or  the  creed  came  to  be  so  abridged  and  modified  as  to 
cease  to  be  explicit  on  any  but  tlie  most  fundamental  of  Chris- 
tian doctrines  stated  in  the  broadest  possible  terms. 

The  westward  movement  of  our  denomination  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century  was  profoundly  influenced 
by  its  association  with  Presbyterianism ;  and  while  the  Con- 
gregationalists  in  the  churches  formed  under  the  Plan  of 
Union  were  more  frequently  of  ' '  the  new  school, ' '  they  were, 
as  a  rule,  organized  in  churches  having  creeds  as  well  as  cove- 
nants. 


214     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  churches  west  of  the  Hudson  felt  more  strongly,  as  a 
rule,  than  did  the  Eastern  churches  the  desirability  of  some- 
thing approaching  uniformity  in  the  creeds  adopted  by  local 
churches.  These  churches  were  organized  in  communities  com- 
paratively unfamiliar  with  Congregationalism  and  where 
churches  of  other  denominations  had  creeds.  The  pressure 
upon  the  National  Council  in  1865  to  formulate  a  declaration 
of  faith  came  largely  from  the  west.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
pressure  under  which  the  Creed  of  1883  was  formulated. 

The  work  of  the  Commission  which  prepared  the  Creed  of 
1883  desei*ves  high  commendation,  not  only  for  that  noble 
document,  but  also  for  the  fact  that  in  connection  with  it  the 
Commission  formulated  what  it  called  a  Confession,  so  distinct 
in  form  and  context  from  the  creed  that  the  churches  which 
adopted  the  Creed  of  1883  found!  it  natural  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  creed,  to  be  used  as  a  testimony,  and  the  confession 
or  covenant,  to  be  used  as  the  basis  of  church  membership. 
The  fact  that  this  form  of  admission  never  gave  general  satis- 
faction does  not  militate  greatly  against  its  value.  It  assisted 
greatly  in  the  restoration  of  the  right  relation  between  creed 
and  covenant. 

In  this  return  toward  the  earlier  practice  of  our  denom- 
ination, even  the  churches  that  were  organized  as  a  protest 
against  Unitarianism  have  participated.  Park  Street  Church 
was  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
April  13,  1916,  and  under  this  incorporation  consolidated  the 
church  and  society  which  had  been  in  existence  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years.  The  church  adopted  a  new  set  of  By-Laws. 
The  first  article  contains  a  belief  doctrinal  platform  in  which 
the  church  professes  ''our  decided  attachment"  to  the  evan- 
gelical faith,  which  is  defined  in  five  brief  declarations,  fol- 
lowed by  an  acceptance  of  the  Apostles '  Creed  ' '  as  embodying 
fundamental  facts  of  Christian  faith."  The  church  has  in 
addition,  in  Article  II,  a  Confession  of  Faith  in  seven  articles, 
the  last  of  which  is  a  covenant.     Members  are  required  to 


SUMMARY  OP  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  215 

"subscribe  to  the  confession  of  faith  of  the  Church,  and  give 
their  public  assent  to  the  Covenant."  The  Pastor  and  Dea- 
cons, instead  of  being  required  to  assent  to  Dr.  Griffin's  creed, 
now  subscribe  to  the  confession  adopted  in  1916.  Following 
are  these  two  interesting  documents,  which  show  a  wide  de- 
parture from  the  rigid  standards  in  force  at  the  beginning, 
but  still  a  fimi  adherence  to  evangelical  principles : 

ARTICLE   I. 

We  profess  our  decided  attachment  to  that  system  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  which  is  designated  EVANGELICAL. 

WE  BELIEVE  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments are  the  Word  of  God  and  the  all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and 
Dr3.cticG 

WE  BELIEVE  that  there  is  one  and  but  one  living  and  true 
God,  subsisting  in  three  persons,  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  equal  in  power  and  glory;  that  this  triune  God  created  all, 
upholds  all  and  governs  all. 

WE  BELIEVE  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour 
of  the  World,  and  that  through  his  life,  death  and  resurrection  an 
atonement  was  made  for  sin  and  redemption  was  provided  for  all 
mankind. 

WE  BELIEVE  that  repentance  for  sin  and  the  acceptance  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  a  personal  Saviour  is  the  one  and  only  way  whereby 
sinful  man  can  inherit  Eternal  Life. 

WE  BELIEVE  the  Holy  Spirit  regenerates  the  soul  of  the  be- 
liever and  brings  man  into  saved  relations  with  God,  and  that  He 
Is  the  Comforter  and  Guide  of  all  who  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  a  per- 
sonal Saviour. 

WE  BELIEVE  in  what  is  termed  "The  Apostles'  Creed"  as  em- 
bodying fundamental  facts  of  Christian  Faith. 

ARTICLE  II.,  Section  2. 
Confession  of  Faith 

a.  I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth;  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Lord;  and  in  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  that  these  three  are'  one  God. 

b.  I  reverently  receive  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  and  believe  them  to  be  the  inspird  Word  of  God,  the 
only  infalliable  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

c.  I  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  in  the  beginning 
"was  with  God,"  and  "was  God,"  and  "who  His  own  self  bare  our 
sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree." 

d.  I  believe  the  Holy  Spirit  has  led  me  to  repent  of  all  my  sins, 
and  to  turn  from  them,  and  to  obey  Christ  where  he  says,  "If  any 
man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  take  up  his  Cross  and  follow  me." 


216    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

e.  I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  in  the  final 
judgment  of  all  men.  "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlast- 
ing life;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life;  but 
the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

f.  I  believe  that  we  are  saved  "by  grace  through  faith"  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  good  works  are  the  certain  fruit  of 
such  faith.  I  therefore  offer  myself  for  Christian  service  as  a  means 
of  expressing  my  gratitude  to  Him,  and  to  extend  His  cause. 

g.  I  cheerfully  submit  myself  to  the  instruction  and  govern- 
ment of  this  Church,  and  I  promise  to  promote  its  purity,  peace  and 
prosperity  by  all  means  within  my  power,  so  long  as  I  shall  continue 
to  be  a  member  of  its  communion. 

The  world  will  little  heed  nor  long  remember  what  kind 
of  creed  Park  Street  adopted  in  1916.  It  might  have  reaf- 
firmed its  old  confessions,  though  this  would  have  been  un- 
likely, or  adopted  the  Creed  of  1883,  or  the  Kansas  City  Con- 
fession, or  have  made  a  new  one,  and  not  much  attention  would 
be  paid  to  it.  The  world  would  expect  that  Park  Street  would 
continue  evangelical,  and  under  whatever  forms  of  expression 
it  might  choose  to  adopt  would  witness  a  good  confession.  It 
would  also  expect  that,  however  evangelical  its  new  creed,  if 
it  should  choose  to  make  a  new  one,  it  would  be  a  much  shorter 
creed  than  that  of  1811,  and  one  framed  to  make  it  easy  to 
accept  all  true  Christians. 

But  what  Park  Street  Church  did  in  1811  was  not  so 
readily  overlooked.  The  Park  Street  confession,  written  by 
Dr.  Griffin,  became  the  type  and  model  of  confessions  of  faith 
used  as  tests  of  fitness  for  church  membership.  The  Park 
Street  Manual  served  as  the  basis  for  the  manuals  of  Bowdoin 
Street,  Pine  Street,  Essex  Street  and  Mt.  Vernon  Churches  of 
Boston ;  Harvard  Church  of  Brookline ;  the  First  and  Second 
Churches  of  Cambridgport,  Mass. ;  the  old  South,  Worcester ; 
Hammond  Street,  Bangor;  the  churches  in  Lockport  and 
Bergen,  New  York;  Plymouth  Church,  Cleveland;  the  First 
Church  of  Chicago,  and  scores  and  probably  hundreds  of 
others.  These  new  churches  became  centers  which  furnished 
their  manuals  as  models  for  newer  churches;  and  thus  the 
type  reproduced  itself. 


SUMMARY  OF  CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  217 

Park  Street  still  requires  subscription  to  its  articles  of 
faith,  but  they  now  are  very  brief ;  and  public  assent  is  made, 
according  to  the  By  Laws,  only  to  the  Covenant.  In  manuals 
that  have  been  received  by  the  author  from  a  large  number 
of  churches,  there  is  no  other  than  Park  Street  which  has  been 
revised  in  recent  years  that  requires  even  this  rather  general 
assent  to  the  creed. 

Of  churches  established  in  recent  years  and  of  those  that 
have  recently  revised  their  forms  of  admission  of  members,  the 
practice  approaches  uniformity  in  this,  that  virtually  all  of 
them  accept  members  on  the  basis  of  assent  to  the  covenant, 
and  use  their  creed,  if  they  have  one,  as  a  testimony  and  not  as 
a  test. 

The  First  Church  of  Oak  Park  affords  an  interesting  and 
in  some  respects  a  typical  illustration  of  Congregational  usage 
with  reference  to  the  evolution  of  a  creed. 

The  church  was'  organized  Feb.  17,  1863,  and  adopted 
nine  ' '  Articles  of  Faith, ' '  all  of  them  brief,  and  as  judged  by 
the  standards  of  that  time  liberal  in  spirit  but  in  their  con- 
tent, then  as  now,  thoroughly  evangelical.  Members  of  the 
church  were  expected  to  assent  both  to  the  Articles  of  Faith 
and  to  the  Covenant,  but  so  far  as  is  known  the  Articles  of 
Faith  were  never  printed  and  were  seldom  publicly  read.  The 
Covenant,  however,  was  printed  on  one  side  of  a  sheet  of 
paper,  distributed  in  the  congregation,  and  from  the  beginning 
of  the  church,  it  was,  as  it  still  is,  the  custom  for  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  to  rise  when  members  are  received  and 
unite  in  repeating  their  portion  of  the  church  covenant. 

In  January,  1872,  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  George 
Huntington,  D.  D.,  the  first  Manual  was  issued,  and  at  that 
time  both  the  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Covenant  underwent 
revision.  There  still  were  nine  articles  of  faith,  all  of  them 
brief,  and  covering  article  by  article  the  doctrines  embraced  in 
the  corresponding  articles  of  the  original  Articles  of  Faith, 
but  the  phraseology  of  all  the  articles  was  changed  and  in 


218    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

every  case  the  change  was  in  the  interest  of  a  somewhat  more 
liberal  interpretation,  but  with  no  compromise  of  orthodoxy. 
In  this  Manual  another  important  change  was  made,  and  con- 
tinues to  the  present  day.  Members  of  the  church  were  not 
required  to  assent  to  the  Articles  of  Faith,  but  were  expected 
to  have  read  them  and  to  "assent  to  the  substance  of  those 
doctrines"  in  a  Confession  still  more  brief. 

In  1910,  the  Declaration  of  Faith  was  revised,  the  number 
of  Articles  reduced  to  seven,  not  by  any  essential  omission  but 
by  condensation,  and  the  Articles  of  Faith  were  prefaced  by  a 
statement  in  full  accord  with  the  long-established  custom  of 
the  church;  namely,  that  the  declaration  of  faith  was  not  to 
be  used  as  a  test  of  fitness  for  church  membership,  but  as  a 
testimony  of  faith  and  an  expression  of  the  spirit  in  which 
this  church  interprets  the  Word  of  God. 

After  the  meeting  of  the  National  Council  in  Kansas  City 
in  1913,  the  church  adopted  the  Kansas  City  creed,  which  is 
now  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  church. 

ORIGINAL  ARTICLES  OP  FAITH  OF  THE  FIRST  CHURCH  OF 

OAK   PARK 

1863—1872 

(1)  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Creator,  Preserver  and  Ruler 
of  the  universe,  existing  in  three  persons,  the  Father  Almighty;  the 
Son,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh;  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Sanctifier 
and  Comforter. 

(2)  We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments were  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  contain  the  only  In- 
falliable   rule   of  faith   and   practice. 

(3)  We  believe  that  mankind  are  in  a  ruined  and  lostl  condition 
through  sin  against  God. 

(4)  We  believe  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  very  God, 
assumed  our  nature,  and  by  His  suffering  and  death  on  the  cross, 
made  an  ample  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  so  that  "whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life." 

(5)  We  believe  in  the  necessity  of  repentance,  faith,  and  a  new 
life  to  acceptance  with  God;  that  salvation  is  freely  offered  to  all, 
and  that  all  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  Christ  shall  be  saved, 
and  that  those  who  reject  the  Gospel  will  perish  through  their  own 
impenitence  and  unbelief. 

(6)  We  believe  that  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  indis- 
pensable to  make  the  truth  effectual  to  the  conversion  of  sinners 


SUMMARY   OF   CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  219 

and  the  sanctification  of  belieivers,  and  that  these  influences  are 
perfectly  consistent  with  the  free  agency  of  man. 

(7)  We  believe  in  the  blessed  fejiowship  of  all  true  believers  in 
Christ,  and  that  a  creditable  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart  is  an 
indispensable  ground  of  admission  to  the  visible  church. 

(8)  "We  believe  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  instituted  the  or- 
dinances of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  to  be  observed  by  His 
disciples;  and  that  these,  together  with  the  Christian  Sabbath,  are 
a  perpetual  obligation. 

(9)  We  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  final  judg- 
ment, the  eternal  life,  of  all  the  saints  in  the  Lord,  and  the  eternal 
punishment  of  the  wicked. 

ORIGINAL  COVENANT  OF  THE  FIRST  CHURCH  OF  OAK  PARK 

1863—1872 

Covenant 

You  do  now,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  men,  declare  the  Lord 
Jehovah  to  be  your  God,  the  supreme  object  of  your  affection  and 
your  chosen  portion  forever.  You  cordially  acknowledge  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  all  His  mediatorial  oflQces,  Prophet,  Priest  and  King, 
as  your  only  Saviour  and  final  Judge;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  as  your 
Sanctifier,  Comforter  and  Guide.  You  humbly  and  cheerfully  de- 
vote yourself  to  God  in  the  everlasting  covenant  of  grace;  you  con- 
secrate your  powers  and  faculties  to  His  service  and  glory;  and  you 
promise,  that  through  the  assistance  of  His  spirit  and  grace,  you  will 
cleave  to  Him  as  your  chief  good;  that  you  will  attend  diligently 
on  all  the  institutions  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  and  particularly 
the  Lord's  Supper,  public  worship  and  the  social  meetings  of  the 
church;  that  you  will  maintain  secret  prayer,  and  by  example  and 
effort  encourage  family  devotion,  and  the  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath;  that  you  will  seek  the  honor  of  Christ's  name  and  the 
interests  of  His  kingdom;  and  that  henceforth  denying  ungodliness 
and  every  worldly  lust  you  will  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly 
in  the  world. 

You  do  now  cordially  join  yourselves  to  this  as  a  church  of 
Christ,  engaging  to  submit  to  its  discipline,  so  far  as  conformable 
to  the  rules  of  the  Gospel;  and  solemnly  covenanting  to  strive,  as 
far  as  in  you  lies,  for  its  gospel  peace,  edification  and  purity,  and 
to  walk  with  its  members  in  memberlike  love,  faithfulness,  circum- 
spection, meekness  and  sobriety. 

(Here  the  members  of  the  Church  will  rise.) 

We,  then,  the  members  of  this  church  of  Christ,  do  now  re- 
ceive you  into  our  communion,  and  promise,  to  watch  over  you 
with  Christian  affection  and  tenderness,  ever  treating  you  in  love, 
as  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ,  who  is  head  over  all  things  to 
the  church. 

This  we  do,  imploring  the  great  Shepherd  of  Israel,  our  Lord 
and  Redeemer,  that  both  we  and  you  may  have  wisdom  and  grace 
to  be  faithful  in  His  covenant,  and  to  glorify  Him  with  the  holiness 
which  becometh  His  house  forever. 


220  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

THE  SECOND  DECLARATION  OP  FAITH  OF  THE  FIRST 

CHURCH  OF  OAK  PARK 

1872—1910 

Article  I. 

We  believe  that  there  is  one  only  living  and  true  God;  that  He 
possesses  in  an  infinite  degree  every  attribute  of  perfection; 
that  He  is  the  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Governor  of  the  Universe; 
and  that  He  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit. 

Article  II. 

We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  of  the  N-ew  Testa- 
ment were  written  by  Inspiration  of  God ;  that  they  are  a  revelation 
of  His  will;  and  that  they  are  the  only  authoritative  Rule  of  Re- 
ligious Faith  and  Practice. 

Article  III. 

We  believe  that  man  was  originally  created  in  a  state  of  moral 
innocence;  that  by  voluntary  transgression  he  became  a  sinner;  and 
that  without  the  regenerating  grace  of  God  he  can  never  attain  unto 
salvation. 

Article  IV. 

We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  both  God  and  man;  that  by  His 
sufferings  and  death  He  has  made  atonement  for  human  sin;  and 
that  upon  the  ground  of  this  atonement,  pardon  and  salvation  are 
bestowed  upon  those  who  repent  of  sin  and  believe  in  Him. 

Article  V. 

We  believe  that  all  who  exercise  such  repentance  and  faith  are 
regenerated  by  special  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  that  having 
been  chosen  in  Christ  from  the  foundation  of  thei  world,  they  will 
be  kept  by  His  power  through  faith  unto  salvation. 

Article  VI. 

We  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  all  such  persons 
to  make  a  public  profession  of  their  Christian  faith,  by  uniting 
themselves  to  the  visible  Church  of  Christ. 

Article  VII. 

We  believe  that  the  Gospel  Ministry,  the  Christian  Church,  and 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  are  institutions  of  divine  appointment,  and 
will  continue  in  force  to  the  end  of  the  world. 


SUMMARY   OF   CONGREGATIONAL  USAGE  221 

Article  VIII. 

We  believe  that  the  ordinances  which  Christ  has  made  binding 
upon  the  Church  are  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Article  IX. 

We  believe  that  there  will  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  a 
general  judgment;  and  that  the  wicked  will  go  away  into  everlast- 
ing punishment,  and  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. 

ADMISSION  OF  MEMBERS 

Persons  desiring  to  become  members  of  this  Church,  after  hav- 
ing been  examined  and  propounded  in  the  manner  heretofore  pre- 
scribe in  this  Manual,  shall  be  publicly  received  into  the  Church 
on  some  Sunday  on  which  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is 
observed,  before  the  administration  of  that  ordinance.  They  shall 
present  themselves  before  the  pulpit,  as  their  names  are  called, 
and  shall  be  thus  addressed  by  the  Pastor  or  by  the  Minister  of- 
ficiating: 
Beloved  Friends: 

Having  already  read  and  considered  the  more  formal  statement 
of  doctrine  contained  in  our  Articles  of  Faith,  and  having  carefully 
compared  it  with  your  own  views,  you  now  assent  to  the  substance 
of  those  doctrines  in  the  following 

Confession. 

We- confess  our  reverent  love  and  faith  toward  God  our  Heaven- 
ly Father,  and  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  Blessed  Saviour, 
and  toward  the  Holy  Spirit,  our  Divine  Comforter. 

We  gratefully  accept  His  Word  as  a  message  of  love  from  Him, 
revealing  to  us  the  things  which  we  most  need  and  desire  to  know 
respecting  His  character  and  will,  and  respecting  our  obligations 
to  Him. 

We  confess  our  sin  and  our  unworthiness  in  His  sight,  and  re- 
nounce all  dependence  upon  our  own  works  for  salvation;  though 
we  esteem  it  both  our  privilege  and  our  duty  to  render  to  Him 
every  service  in  our  power,  and  especially  to  honor  His  Truth, 
His  Sabbath,  His  Church,  and  the  Ordinances  of  His  Religion. 

We  receive  with  implicit  trust  the  offers  which  He  has  made  to 
us  in  His  word,  of  pardon  through  the  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  of  regeneration  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
and  believing  that  we  have  experienced  this  pardon  and  regener- 
ation, we  look  confidently  to  Him  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the 
life,  and  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at  His  appearing, 
to  save  us  from  the  second  death,  and  to  grant  us  an  inheritance 
in  His   everlasting   kingdom. 

Thus  you  confess? 


222  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Baptism. 

[To  those  Uniting  upon  Profession.] 

In  accordance  with  the  faith  which  you  have  now  confessed, 
and  with  the  teachings  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  are  here  to 
unite  yourselves  with  His  visible  Church,  under  the  ordinances  and 
covenants  which  He  has  established? 
[To  those  Baptized  in  Infancy.] 

You  who  were  dedicated  to  God  in  childhood  by  your  believing 
parents,  in  the  ordinance  of  Baptism,  do  now  accept  that  act  as 
your  own,  believing  that  the  spiritual  change  which  it  signifies  has 
been  wrought  within  you  by  the  Holy  Spirit? 
[To  those  not  Baptized.] 

You  who  trust  that  you  have  been  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  who  have  never  received  the  outward  sign  of  regeneration,  are 
now  prepared  to  receive  that  sign  in  the  ordinance  of  Baptism? 

Covenant. 

Thus  confessing  and  obeying  Christ,  and  having  already  con- 
secrated yourselves  unreservedly  to  Him,  you  now  renew  that  con- 
secration in  the  presence  of  these  witnesses,  declaring  the  Lord 
Jehovah  to  be  your  God,  the  object  of  your  supreme  affection,  and 
your  portion  forever.  You  solemnly  surrender  yourselves  to  Him 
as  your  only  rightful  sovereign.  You  devote  to  His  service  all  your 
faculties,  powers,  and  possessions,  promising  to  make  His  will  the 
constant  rule  of  your  life,  and  His  glory  the  ultimate  end  of  all 
your  actions.  You  declare  your  purpose  to  make  your  own  personal 
sanctiflcation  and  Christian  usefulness  the  standard  by  which  to 
decide  the  lawfulness  of  all  your  worldly  business  and  amusements; 
abstaining  from  every  practice  and  pursuit  which  shall  interfere 
with  these  ends,  and  attending  conscientiously  upon  every  ordinance 
and  means  of  grace  which  shall  enable  you  to  secure  them. 

In  accordance  with  these  purposes,  you  do  now  unite  yourselves 
with  this  Church  of  Christ,  engaging  to  maintain  and  submit  to 
its  government  and  disciplline,  to  co-operate  with  it  in  all  good 
enterprises,  and  to  promote,  to  the  utmost  of  your  power,  its  purity, 
its  peace,  and  its  prosperity. 

Trusting  in  the  grace  of  God,  you  thus  covenant  and  engage? 
[Here  the  Church  will  arise  and  Say,] 

We  then  affectionately  receive  you  as  members  with  us  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  We  bid  you  welcome,  in  His  name,  to  all  the 
blessings  and  privileges  which  are  connected  with  this  divine  in- 
stitution. We  tender  you  our  Christian  commimion  and  most  cor- 
dial fellowship,  cherishing  a  fraternal  interest  in  your  spiritual 
welfare,  and  desiring  to  aid  you,  by  our  sympathies,  our  counsels, 
and  our  prayers,  in  discharging  the  responsibilities  which  you  have 
this  day  assumed. 

[Here  the  pastor  may  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  each 
person,  with  such  words  as  he  may  think  appropriate.] 
[By  the  Pastor.] 


SUMMARY   OP   CONGREGATIONAL   USAGE  223 

And  now  may  the  Almighty  Spirit  help  you  to  fulfill  the  cove- 
nant which  you  have  made  with  Him  and  His  people  this  day.  The 
Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you;  the  Lord  make  His  face  to  shine 
upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto  you;  the  Lord  lift  up  His  counte- 
nance upon  you,  and  give  you  peace. 

THE  COVENANT  IN  INFANT  BAPTISM 

The  ordinance  of  Infant  Baptism,  also,  is  administered  with  a 
mutual  Covenant, — which  has  been  in  use  in  the  First  Church  from 
1872 — and  perhaps  earlier — to  the  present  time. 

Children  may  be  presented  for  Baptism  on  any  Sunday  on 
which  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  not  administered. 
While  they  are  brought  forward,  the  following  chant  shall  be,  sung: 

Processional  Chant. 

1.  And  Jesus  said.  Suffer  little  children, 

and  forbid  them  not  to  ||  come  . .  imto  ||  me; 
For  of  II  such  . .  is  the  ||  kingdom  . .  of  ||  heaven. 

2.  He  shall  feed  His  ||  flock  . .  like  a  ||  shepherd; 
He  shall  gather  the  lambs  with  His  arm 

and  II  carry  . .  them  ||  in  His  ||  bosom. 

3.  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed, 

and  my  blessing  up-  ||  on  thine  ||  offspring; 
And  they  shall  spring  up  as  among  the,  grass, 
as  II  willows  . .  by  the  ||  water-  ||  courses. 

The  Pastor  or  officiating  clergyman  shall  then  read  to  those  who 
present  their  children  for  Baptism  the  following 

Covenant  of  Parents. 

Thesei  children,  whom  God  has  given  to  you,  you  now  bring  unto 
Him,  that  you  may  consecrate  them  to  Him,  and  enter  into  cove- 
nant with  Him  in  their  behalf,  engaging  to  be  faithful  to  them  in 
all  spiritual  things,  and  to  seek  by  prayer,  by  instruction  in  the 
Scriptures,  by  admonition,  by  persuasion,  and  especially  by  a  godly 
life  and  conversation,  to  lead  them  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  Christ; 
and  you  recognize  in  this  rite  of  Baptism  the  seal  of  that  covenant, 
and  the  sign  of  the  spiritual  cleansing  which  it  typifies? 

Answer:    We  do. 

The  rite  of  Baptism  having  been  administered,  the  Church  shall 
arise  and  repeat  the  following 

Covenant  of  the  Church. 

We  also,  as  your  fellow  members  in  this  Church  of  Christ,  do 
Join  with  you  in  the  covenant  which  you  make  this  day  in  behalf  of 


224    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

these  your  children.  We  recognize  our  relation  to  them  as  in  a 
peculiar  sense  the  children  of  the  Church,  desiring  with  you  to 
watch  over  them,  and  to  care  for  all  their  spiritual  interests,  labor- 
ing and  praying  for  their  salvation,  that  they  may  early  become  the 
subjects  of  that  inward  grace  whose  outward  sign  they  have  now 
received. 

After  prayer  by  the  officiating  minister,  the  following  chant 
shall  be  sung,  while  the  children  retire: 

Recessional  Chant. 

1.  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you, 

and  II  ye  shall  . .  be  ||  clean; 
A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you, 

and  a  new  spirit  ||  will  I  ||  put  with-  ||  in  you. 

2.  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting 

upon  |l  them  that  ||  fear  Him, 
And  His  righteousness  ||  unto  ||  children's  ||  children. 

3.  To  such  as  ||  keep  His  ||  covenant. 

And  to  those  that  remembea*  His 
com-  II  mand  . .  ments  to  ||do  them  . .  A- 1|  men. 

THE  THIRD  DECLARATION  OF  FAITH  OF  THE  FIRST 

CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH  OF  OAK  PARK 

1910—1914 

The  First  Church  invites  to  its  fellowship  all  who  love  God  and 
their  fellow  men,  and  who  strive  to  know  and  perform  their  duty 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Declaration  of  Faith, 

The  following  declaration,  while  not  to  be  used  as  a  test  of 
fitness  for  church  membership,  which  is  determined  by  faith  in 
Christ  and  faithful  living,  is  adopted  as  a  testimony  of  faith,  and  an 
expression  of  the  spirit  in  which  this  Church  interprets  the  Word 
of  God.  To  that  Word,  interpreted  by  the  Spirit  who  gave  it,  final 
appeal  is  directed  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice. 

Article  I. — God 

We  believe  that  there  is  one  only  living  and  true  God,  who  is 
revealed  to  us  in  Scripture  as  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit. 

Article  II. — The  Holy  Scriptures 

We  believe  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
written  by  men  who  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  contain  a  reve- 
lation from  God,  revealing  unto  us  the  things  which  we  most  need 


SUMMARY   OF   CONGREGATIONAL   USAGE  225 

and  desire  to  know  concerning  His  character  and  will,  and  our  ob- 
ligation to  Him;  and  that  they  are  sufficient  for  our  guidance  in 
all  matters  of  religious  faith  and  practice. 

Article  III. — Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 

We  believe  that  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself;  that  in  the  life,  teaching,  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
His  beloved  Son,  the  love  and  power  of  God  are  made  manifest  for 
the  salvation  of  the  world. 

Article  IV. — Sin  and  Salvation 

We  believe  that  all  men  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
God;  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  and  that  the  gift  of  God  is 
eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord;  that  all  who  repent  and 
come  to  God  in  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  become  through  the  re- 
generating power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  heirs  of  God,  joint  heirs  with 
Jesus  Christ,  and  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto 
Salvation. 

Article  V.—  The  Church  of  Christ 

We  believe  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ;  in  the  Gospel  min- 
istry; in  the  Christian  Sabbath;  and  in  the  ordinances  of  the  Church 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Article  VI.— The  Work  of  the  Church 

We  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  Christians,  to  confess  Christ 
before  men,  and  united  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Church,  to  proclaim 
the  Gospel  to  all  men;  to  support  the  institutions  of  charity  and 
compassion;  and  to  labor  for  the  spread  of  intelligence,  liberty, 
justice,  temperance,  peace  and  righteousness  in  all  the  earth. 

Article  VII.— The  Coming  of  the  Kingdom 

We  believe  in  the  coming  triumph  of  righteousness  in  the  world 
which  God  so  loved  and  for  which  Christ  died;  and  that  they  who 
share  the  more  abundant  life  and  hope  which  Christ  has  revealed 
triumph  over  sin  and  death,  and  partake  of  the  life  everlasting' 
Amen. 

THE  FOURTH  DECLARATION  OF  FAITH  OF  THE  FIRST 

CHURCH  OF  OAK  PARK 

Adopted  in  1914. 

The  First  Church  invites  to  its  fellowship  all  who  love  God  and 
their  fellow  men,  and  who  strive  to  know  and  perform  their  duty 
in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  following  declaration,  while  not  to  be  used  as  a  test  of 
fitness  for   church   membership,   which   is   determined   by  faith   in 


226    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Christ  and  a  consistent  life,  is  adopted  as  a  testimony  of  faith,  and  an 
expression  of  the  spirit  in  which  this  Church  interprets  the  Word 
of  God.  To  that  Word,  interpreted  by  the  Spirit  who  gave  it,  final 
appeal  is  directed  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice,. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  ADOPTED  BY  THE  NATIONAL 
COUNCIL  IN  1913 

We  believe  in  God  the  Father,  infinite  in  wisdom,  goodness,  and 
love;  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  who  for 
us  and  our  salvation  lived  and  died  and  rose  again  and  liveth  ever- 
more; and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  taketh  of  the  things  of  Christ 
and  revealeth  the.m  to  us,  renewing,  comforting,  and  inspiring  the 
souls  of  men.  We  are  united  in  striving  to  know  the  will  of  God 
as  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  in  our  purpose  to  walk  in  the 
ways  of  the  Lord,  made  known  or  to  be  made  known  to  us.  We 
hold  it  to  be  the  mission  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  proclaim  the 
Gospel  to  all  mankind,  exalting  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God,  and 
laboring  for  the  progress  of  knowledge,  the  promotion  of  justice, 
the  reign  of  peace,  and  the  realization  of  human  brotherhood.  De- 
pending, as  did  our  fathers,  upon  the  continued  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  lead  us  into  all  truth,  we  work  and  pray  for  the  trans- 
formation of  the  world  into  the  Kingdom  of  God;  and  we  look  with 
faith  for  the  triumph  of  righteousness  and  the  life  everlasting. 

FORM  FOR  THE  ADMISSION  OF  MEMBERS 

(Candidates  for  membership  make  application  through  the  Mem- 
bership Committee,  and  their  names  having  been  duly  propounded, 
they  are  approved  by  vote  of  the  church,  usually  at  the  Wednesday 
evening  next  preceding  a  communion  service.  Having  thus  been 
accepted,  the  candidates  receive  their  public  welcome,  usually  at 
a  communion  service  and  just  before  the  administration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.) 

The  Invitation  and  its  Acceptance. 

(The  names  of  the  candidates  being  read  by  the  minister  with  a 
statement  of  the  vote  of  the  church  receiving  them  into  member- 
ship, the  candidates  will  come  forward  and  the  minister  will  say:) 

Wherewith  shall  we  come  before  the  Lord,  and  what  offering 
shall  we  make  unto  the  most  high  God?  He  hath  showed  thee  O 
man,  what  is  good;  and  what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to 
do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God? 

The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  upon  them  that  fear  Him;  to  those 
that  remember  His  commandments  to  do  them  and  keep  them. 
With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the 
mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation. 

Jesus  said.  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  also  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  Him  that  cometh 
unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 

Having,  therefore,  received  such  promises,  let  us  come,  with 
confidence  unto  the  throne  of  grace.     Let  us  approach  with  clean 


SUMMARY   OP   CONGREGATIONAL   USAGE  227 

hands  and  a  pure  heart,  with  faith  in  God  and  love  for  our  fellow 
men.  Let  us  come  with  penitence  and  reverence;  with  humility 
and  boldness,  with  contrite  spirit  and  gladness  of  heart.  Let  us 
enter  into  our  heritage  as  disciples  of  our  common  Lord,  into  the 
fellowship  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Church  of  the 
living  God.  For  behold,  He  hath  set  before  us  an  open  door  and 
no  man  can  shut  it. 

The  Covenant  of  the  Members. 

(Baptism  having  been  administered  to  those  who  are  not  al- 
ready baptized,   and   those   who   were   baptized   in   infancy  having 
ratified  the  covenant  made  on  their  behalf  by  Christian   parents 
the  minister  will  addreiss  the  candidates:) 
Dearly  beloved: 

Confessing  your  reverent  love  for  God,  your  heavenly  Father, 
and  your  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  your  Saviour,  you  now  enter  into  the 
membership  of  this  Church  in  the  service  and  fellowship  of  the 
Spirit  of  truth.  You  promise  and  covenant  with  God  and  the 
Church,  to  walk  together  with  your  Christian  brethren  in  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  gospel,  and  in  all  the  ways  of  the  Lord  made  known 
or  to  be  made  known  to  you;  to  share  in  the  worship  and  work 
of  this  Church,  and  the  faith  and  devotion  of  the  Church  universal 
You  ejigage  to  submit  to  the  government  and  discipline  of  this 
Church  until  you  are  regularly  dismissed  therefrom;  to  co-operate 
with  it  in  all  good  enterprises;  and  to  promote  to  the  utmost  of 
your  power  its  prosperity,  its  purity  and  its  peace. 

Trusting  in  the,  grace  of  God,  do  you  thus  covenant  and  engage' 
Answer:     I  do. 

The  Response  of  the  Church. 

(Here  the  Church  will  arise  and  say) 

We  then  affectionately  receive  you  as  members  with  us  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  We  bid  you  welcome,  in  His  name,  to  all  the 
blessings  and  privileges  which  are  connected  with  this  divine  in- 
stitution. We  tender  to  you  our  Christian  communion  and  most 
cordial  fellowship,  cherishing  a  fraternal  interest  in  your  spiritual 
welfare,  and  desiring  to  aid  you,  by  our  sympathies,  our  counsels 
and  our  prayers,  in  discharging  the  responsibilities  which  you  have 
this  day  assumed. 

The  Right  Hand  of  Fellowship. 

(Here  the  Minister  will  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to 
each  person,  with  such  words  as  he  may  think  appropriate  ) 
(By  the  Pastor) 

And  now  may  Almighty  God  our  Heavenly  Father  help  you  to 
fulfill  the  covenant  v/hich  you  have  made  with  Him  and  His  people 
this  day.  The  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you;  the  Lord  make  His 
race  to  shine  upon  you  and  be  gracious  unto  you;  the  Lord  lift 
up  His  countenance  upon  you,  and  give  you  peace.    Amen 


PART  THREE 
CREEDS  AND  CONSCIENCES 


I.  CREEDS :  THEIR  USE  AND  ABUSE 

The  Congregational  churches  have  made  united  and  con- 
sistent protest  against  the  tyranny  of  creeds.  Holding  as  they 
do  to  the  essential  truth  which  finds,  expression  more  or  less 
adequate  in  all  creeds,  they  have  resolutely  protested  against 
the  right  of  any  man,  or  group  of  men,  to  make  a  creed  which 
they  shall  be  required  to  accept.  The  protest  of  the  Puritans 
was  not  against  the  creed  of  the  Church  of  England,  but 
against  the  supposed  authority  by  which  creeds  were  imposed 
upon  the  conscience  of  ministers  and  church  members.  Rich- 
ard Baxter  said, 

"We  do  not  dissent  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England  expressed  in  the  articles  and  homilies. ' ' 

John  Robinson  and  William  Brewster  in  the  ' '  Seven  Ar- 
ticles" which  they  submitted  in  1617  on  behalf  of  the  Pilgrim 
church  said :  "  To  ye  confession  of  faith  published  in  ye  name 
of  ye  church  of  England,  and  to  every  article  thereof,  we  do 
with  the  reformed  churches  where  we  live  and  also  elseAvhere 
assent  wholly. ' ' 

It  was  altogether  common  for  the  earlj^  Congregationalists 
to  refer  to  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England  as  containing 
their  essential  views  in  doctrine ;  and  these  references  would 
be  more  abundant  than  they  are  had  it  not  been  assumed,  and 
rightly,  that  their  Christian  faith  was  essentially  the  same  as 

228 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  229 

that  of  other  Christian  people  in  their  own  day.  When,  in 
1662,  two'  thousand  five  hundred  clergymen  passed  out  of  the 
ministry  of  the  Church  of  England,  it  was  not  wholly  nor 
chiefly  because  they  did  not  believe  the  essential  doctrine 
which  they  were  required  to  preach;  indeed,  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  many  of  those  who  lost  their  livings  at 
that  time  differed  from  their  neighbors  chiefly  in  having  a 
more  sensitive  conscience  in  the  matter  of  subscription  to 
creeds  and  other  standards  imposed  upon  them  by  authority 
of  the  crown.  The  question  of  doctrine  was  distinctly  a  minor 
one,  but  in  so  far  as  it  entered  into  the  controversy  which  led 
to  the  ejectment,  it  was  not  so  much  the  articles  of  belief  that 
occasioned  the  trouble  as  it  was  the  authority  which  assumed 
the  right  to  compel  belief. 

In  a  general  way  this  attitude  toward  creeds  has  been 
maintained  throughout  the  history  of  the  Congregational 
churches.  The  fact  that  a  Congregational ist  refuses  to  sign 
a  particular  creed  is  not  by  any  means  proof,  or  even  presump- 
tion, that  he  does  not  accept  the  substance  of  doctrine  con- 
tained in  the  creed.  His  protest  is  more  likely  to  be  against 
the  assumed  right  of  any  man  or  body  of  men  to  compel  him  to 
sign  any  creed.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  a  Congregationalist 
Avill  readily  subscribe  to  all  creeds  and  at  the  same  time  protest 
against  the  authority  of  them  all  and  singular. 

There  are  those  who  affirm  that  any  possible  creed  is  an 
evil,  and  only  evil,  and  that  continually.  A  writer  in  The 
Unpopular  Review  recently  expressed  himself  thus: 

It  is  not  only  in  the  fact  that'  the  creed  of  the  Church  is  tiie 
wrong  one.  What  is  amiss  is  the  mere  existence  of  a  creed.  As 
soon  as  income,  position  and  power  are  dependent  upon  assent  to 
no  matter  what  creed,  intellectual  honesty  is  imperilled.  Men  will 
tell  them.selves  that  a  formal  acceptance  of  the  creed  is  justified  by 
the  good  which  it  will  enable  them  to  do.  They  fail  to  realize  that, 
in  men  whose  mental  life  has  any  vigor,  loss  of  complete;  intellectual 
integrity  weakens  the  power  of  doing  good,  by  producing  gradually 
in  all  directions  an  inability  to  see  truth  simply.  The  strictness  of 
party  discipline  has  introduced  the  same  evil  into  politics;   there. 


230    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

because  the  evil  is  comparatively  new,  it  is  visible  to  many  who 
think  it  unimportant  as  regards  the  Church.  But  the  evil  is  greater 
as  regards  the  Church,  because  religion  is  of  more  importance  than 
politics,  and  because  it  is  more  necessary  that  the  exponents  of 
religion  should  be  wholly  free  from  taint. 

But  this  is  a  short-sighted  and  one-sided  statement.  We 
cannot  get  on  without  creeds,  and  there  is  no  good  reason  why 
we  should  attempt  it.  But  there  is  good  reason  why  we  should 
refuse  to  be  in  bondage  to  our  creeds. 

Congregationalists  have  no  superstitious  reverence  for 
creeds  as  such,  however  far  some  Congregationalists  may  go 
from  time  to  time  in  their  regard  for  particular  creeds.  Creeds 
are  human  instniments,  the  product  of  discussion  and  com- 
promise, and  they  often  suppress  as  much  truth  as  they  ex- 
press. Very  often  they  have  succeeded  in  emphasizing  one 
truth  only  by  the  violent  neglect  or  even  denial  of  other  truth 
equally  important.  Congregationalists  know  this,  and  will  not 
permit  themselves  to  be  bound  by  creeds  imposed  by  the 
authority  of  men. 

But  Congregationalists  know,  also,  that  there  is  a  liberty 
greater  than  personal  liberty,  the  liberty  in  which  individual 
men  are  released  from  the  narrow  bondage  of  self,  whether  it 
be  self-love  or  self-expression,  into  the  higher  liberty  of  fel- 
lowship. If  this  is  to  be  done,  there  must  be  a  union  of 
interests  and  of  utterance.  Christians  must  learn  not  only 
to  unite  in  common  forms  of  activity,  but  must  unite  in  sing- 
ing the  same  hymns  and  in  uttering  the  same  great  truths. 
Creeds  become  valuable  as  hymns  become  valuable,  because 
they  give  voice  to  this  higher  liberty. 

The  very  latest  book  on  creeds  gives  expression  in  terms 
of  high  enthusiasm  to  this  view  of  the  larger  liberty  which 
creeds  may  be  made  to  serve.  It  is  a  volume  on  The  Apostles' 
Creed,  by  Prof.  Edward  S.  Drown,  of  the  Episcopal  Theolog- 
ical School  in  Cambridge.  Congregationalists  may  not  follow 
him  in  the  very  high  regard  for  creeds  which  he  expresses,  yet 


CREEDS:  THEIR  USE  AND  ABUSE         ^31 

they   will   find   themselves  in   sympathy   with   his   essential 
thought : 

CREEDS  AND  LIBERTY 

Is  a  creed  a  restraint  on  religious  liberty?  So  it  is  often  main- 
tained. Creeds  are  regarded  as  shackles,  fetters  on  freedom.  It  is 
held  that  the  road  to  freedom  is  through  the  abolition  of  creeds. 

If  creeds  are  really  fetters  on  freedom,  modern  men  can  have 
no  interest  in  creeds.  We  demand  liberty;  liberty  of  thought  and 
of  life,  liberty  in  the  state,  industrial  liberty — above  all,  liberty  of 
conscience  in  all  things  that  pertain  to  our  relation  with  God.  The 
fight  for  liberty  is  the  fight  of  the  modern  world.  With  a  great 
price  purchased  we  this  freedom,  and  there  remaineth  yet  very  much 
land  to  be  possessed.  If  religion  is  to  keep  its  place  in  the  modern 
world,  it  must  not  merely  tolerate  the  demand  for  liberty — it  must 
insist  upon  it.  For  no  freedom  is  perfectly  secured  unless  it  is 
founded  on  religious  freedom — the  freedom  of  man's  relation  with 
God. 

If  then  creeds  are  a  shackle  on  freedom,  creeds  cannot  perma- 
nently be  maintained.  They  must  be  defended,  if  at  all,  in  no  faint- 
hearted, apologetic  way.  It  will  not  be  enough  to  prove  that  their 
restraints  on  freedom  are  not  very  serious.  The  issue  must  be  more 
boldly  faced.  Creeds  must  be  shown  to  be  guarantees  of  liberty.  It 
must  be  shown  that  their  abolition  would  conduce  to  bondage 
rather  than  to  freedom.  Only  such  a  contention  can  vindicate  the 
rightful  place  for  creeds.  A  half-hearted  defence  must  be  abandoned 
for  a  bold  attack  . 

The  fact  is  that  freedom  cannot  be  separated  from  a  right  rela- 
tion to  one's  environment.  Freedom  and  experience  go  hand  in  - 
hand.  On  the  one  hand,  man  is  not  a  thing.  He  is  not  the  mere 
sport  of  outward  circum.stance.  He  can  become  the  master  and  not 
the  slave  of  his  own  nature  and  of  his  environment.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  can  attain  such  free  mastery  only  as  he  grasps  the  truth 
of  his  own  nature,  and  of  the  environment  in  which  he  is  placed. 
Freedom  is  a  growth,  and  it  grows  only  through  knowledge  of  the 
truth  and  obedience  to  that  truth.  If  a  man's  will  acts  arbitrarily, 
without  relation  to  his  own  nature,  and  to  his  circumstances,  then 
his  will  enslaves  him  instead  of  freeing  him.  A  man  lost  in  the 
woods  can  go  any  way  that  he  likes.  But  by  that  very  fact  he 
cannot  escape  from  them.  He  finds  a  path,  and  in  following  it  he 
wins  his  freedom.  A  ship  at  sea  without  chart  or  compass  is  the 
sport  of  accident.  Chart  and  compass  reveal  its  true  position  and 
open  up  freedom  to  reach  the  desired  haven.  Free  control  over 
nature  comes  only  through  knowledge  of  and  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  nature.  As  scientific  knowledge  of  nature  increases,  scientific 
control  over  nature  grows  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  man's  free 
control  of  nature  grows  apace.  Freedom  consists  always  in  a  rela- 
tion to  the  truth.  Only  by  knowledge  of  truth  can  man's  will  be 
set  free  from  bondage  to  his  environment.  By  obedience  to  law  he 
becomes  master  instead  of  slave. 


232  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND   COVENANTS 

All  this  is  just  as  true  of  political  freedom.  Political  freedom 
does  not  come  at  the  beginning  of  history.  It  is  an  end  to  be 
achieved,  and  to  be  achieved  only  as  right  relations  are  developed 
betv/een  man  and  man.  The  free  savage  is  a  figment  of  the  imagi- 
nation. He  is  bound  by  traditions,  customs,  the  hard  necessities  of 
life.  Thomas  Hobbes  was  perfectly  right  in  maintaining  that  a 
state  without  law  was  a  state  where  every  man  was  deprived  of  his 
rights.  Anarchy  is  but  another  name  for  tyranny.  The  individual 
citizen  becomes  free  as  the  community  establishes  itself  in  law  and 
order.  Laws  that  truly  express  the  constitution  of  society  at  the 
same  time  secure  the  freedom  of  the  citizen.  Laws  guard  and  pro- 
tect that  freedom.  Covenants  are  signed  that  it  may  be  defended. 
Magna  Charta  guarded  the  rights  of  men.  When  the  men  on  the 
Mayflower  put  their  names  to  that  compact,  did  they  sign  away  their 
freedom  or  secure,  it?  When  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
signed  was  that  signature  an  act  of  slavery?  When  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  brought  order  out  of  confusion  and  light  out  of 
darkness  did  it  impose  slavery  or  liberty  upon  the  nation? 

Freiedom  of  the  will  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  discovery  of 
truth.  Freedom  in  the  State  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  growth  of 
law. 

Of  course  the  law  must  be  true  law ;  that  is,  it  must  be  law  that 
rightly  expresses  the  nature  of  the  community  and  the  relation  to 
each  other  of  its  citizens.  When  law  distorts  those  relations,  then 
law  becomes  tyranny.  But  the  escape,  from  tyranny  is  not  through 
the  abolition  of  law,  but  through  its  reformation.  Anarchy  is  the 
opposite  of  freedom.  Freedom  exists  in  proportion  as  the  com- 
munity has  come  to  a  true  realization  of  itself,  and  has  expressed 
itself  in  true  laws.     Freedom  consists  in  right  relation  to  law. 

In  every  case  freedom  comes  only  through  the  truth.  Whether 
we  are  speaking  of  freedom  of  the  will,  of  political  freedom,  or  of 
industrial  freedom,  in  any  case  we  are  free  only  by  being  put  into 
true  relations  with  our  fellowmen. 

Such  considerations  should  cast  light  on  the  character  of  relig- 
ious freedom  and  on  its  relation  to  creeds.  Religious  freedom  con- 
sists in  a  man's  ability  to  express  himself  truly  In  his  relation  to 
God  and  to  his  fellows.  Alike  to  God  and  to  his  fellows.  For  re- 
ligion is  never  a  matter  of  relation  to  God  alone.  It  is  also  a 
matter  of  human  fellowship  brought  about  by  that  relation,  real 
or  supposed,  to  God.  From  its  beginnings  religion  has  been  a 
social  rather  than  a  purely  Individual  matter.  Religion  began 
not  with  the  individual,  but  with  the  tribe  or  clan  or  family.  And 
as  religion  developed  it  has  always  been  a  means  through  which 
men  were  knit  together  by  a  common  belief  in  their  common  relation 
to  God. 

This  union  of  the  individual  and  the  social  runs  through  the 
whole  New  Testament  from  cover  to  cover.  The  Apostle  Paul  opens 
up  the  richness  of  the  individual  life,  created  through  its  surrender 
to  God. 

Later  Christianity  has  had  many  faults  and  aberrations,  but  it 
has  never  utterly  lost  that  ideal.     It  lies  at  the  very  heart  of  the 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  233 

belief  in  the  Church.  For  the  Church,  rightly  taken,  stands  for 
the  ideal  of  a  fellowship  among  men  that  is  rooted  and  grounded  on 
fellowship  with  God.  In  the.  deepest  sense  all  Christian  life  is  life 
in  the  Church,  that  is  in  fellowship.  Take  the  word  Church  in  no 
narrow  or  sectarian  interpretation,  and  the  old  saying,  so  often 
misused,  becomes  true  in  the  deepest  sense,  "There  is  no  salvation 
outside  of  the  Church."  For  the  heart  of  that  saying  is  that  there 
can  be  no  fellowship  with  God  unless  it  is  realized  through  fellow- 
ship with  men,  that  the  love  of  God  means  love  of  the  brethren. 

This  brings  us  back  to  the  statement  that  religious  freedom 
consists  in  a  man's  ability  to  express  himself  truly  in  his  relalion  to 
God  and  to  his  fellows.    What  bearing  on  such  liberty  has  a  creed? 

There  are  certain  religions  in  which  a  positive  definite  creed 
emerges,  and  in  which  acceptance  of  that  creed  is  regarded  as  vital 
to  the  fellowship  of  that  religion.  The  religion  of  Israel  had  such 
a  creed.  It  finds  definite  expression  as  follows:  "Hear,  O  Israel: 
the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord:  and  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might. 
And  these  words,  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  upon 
thine  heart:  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy  children, 
and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sit  test  in  thine  house,  and  when 
thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou 
risest  up.  And  thou  shalit  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thine  hand, 
and  they  shall  be  for  frontlets  between  thine  eyes.  And  thou  shalt 
write  them  upon  the  door  posts  of  thy  house,  and  upon  thy  gates." 
(Deut.  6:  4-9.)  The  acceptance  of  the  Lord  as  God  becomes  a 
creed,  a  badge  of  fellowship. 

Mohammedanism  has  its  creed.  "There  is  no  God  except  Allah, 
and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  Under  that  creed  the  body  of  the 
faithful  form  a  fellowship.  Something  of  the  same  kind  can  be 
said  of  the  ancient  Persian  religion  of  Zarathustra  or  Zoroaster. 
Allegiance  to  the  God  of  light  against  the  power  of  darkness  became 
a  badge  of  fellowship.  In  all  these  cases  we  have  not  merely  an 
underlying  theology,  but  we  have  certain  fundamental  ideas  ex- 
pressing allegiance  to  a  common  God.  And  that  allegiance  and  the 
beliefs  that  went  with  it  becom.e  a  pledge  of  a  common  fellowship. 

All  these  religions  are  distinctly  fighting  religions.  Each  one 
is  concerned  with  its  own  truth  as  vital.  Each  is  in  a  sense  an 
intolerant  religion,  that  is  it  regards  its  own  truth  as  a  thing  to  be 
fought  for.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  such  religions  and 
the  easy  going  tolerance  of  Greece  and  Rome,  a  tolerance  that  rested 
not  upon  a  conviction  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  the  only  true 
basis  for  toleration,  but  upon  an  indifference  to  truth,  or  at  least 
upon  the  suspicion  that  all  ideas  are  in  some  way  equally  true.  But 
these  fighting  religions  have  had  aggressive  power,  they  have  had 
a  distinctly  missionary  element.  For,  realizing  that  religion  implies 
truth,  they  could  not  be  indifferent  to  truth  and  to  its  propagation. 

Now  the  Christian  religion  had  a  creed  from  very  early  times. 
Not,  of  course,  a  formal  creed.  That  came  later.  But  in  the  New 
Testament  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  early  Christians  were  knit 
together  in  a  common  allegiance  to  their  Lord,  and  that  that  alle- 


234    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

giance  was  expressed  in  an  elementarj^  creedal  form.  The  heart  of 
this  was  the  confession  of  Je.sus  as  Lord  and  Christ.  Perhaps  its 
earliest  form  was  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  or  more  strictly  that 
the  Christ  was  Jesus.  There  is  given  no  single  form  of  words,  but 
the  importance  of  such  a  fundamental  confession  of  faith  in  Christ 
is  clearly  seen.  The  following  passages  will  serve  as  examples: 
"Every  one  therefore  who  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will 
I  also  confess  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  (Matt.  10: 
32,  cf.  Luke  12:  8.)  "If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  Jesus 
as  Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  raised  him  from 
the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved :  for  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness;  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salva- 
tion." (Rom.  10:  9-10.)  "That  every  tongue  should  confess  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  (Phil.  2:  11.) 
"Whosoever  shall  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  God  abideth 
in  him  and  he  in  God."  (I  John  4:  15.  Cf.  I  John  4:  2-3,  and  II 
John,  vej-sei  7.)  And  the  following  passage  is  very  probably  a  quo- 
tation from  an  early  hymn  or  confession  of  faith:  "He  who  was 
manifested  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  spirit,  seen  of  angels, 
preached  among  the  nations,  believed  on  in  the  world,  received  up 
in  glory."  (I  Tim.  3:  16.)  These  passages  suflRciently  indicate  the 
fundamental  confession  of  Christ  which  lay  at  the  basis  of  the 
Christian  fellowship. 

A  creed  then  is  primarily  an  expression  of  religious  allegiance 
and  a  badge  of  religious  fellowship.  It  is  not  first  a  mere  theology, 
a  mere  collection  of  dogmas  or  beliefs.  It  is  primarily  an  expres- 
sion of  faith  or  belief,  belief  taken  in  a  personal  rather  than  in  an 
intellectual  sense,  belief  conceived  of  as  trust  or  allegiance.  It 
carries  with  it,  of  course,  intellectual  contents.  But  those  intel- 
lectual contents  are  but  the  expression  of  a  fundamental  act  of 
trust. 

Now  is  such  a  creed  enslaving?  Yes,  if  the  path  through  the 
woods  is  enslaving  to  the  man  who  is  lost.  Yes,  if  the  map  and 
compass  are  enslaving  to  the  ship  at  sea.  Yes,  if  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  are 
shackles  on  liberty.  But  if  path  and  compass  and  map  and  con- 
stitution are  means  to  secure  liberty,  and  to  escape  from  slavery, 
then  may  not  a  creed  expressing  a  common  allegiance  serve,  the 
same  purpose?  If  religious  fellowship  rests  upon  such  common 
allegiance  and  upon  the  truth  that  that  allegiance  implies,  then  a 
creed  expressing  that  allegiance  and  that  truth  is  not  a  badge  of 
slavery  but  of  freedom. 

It  is  an  easy  supposition  that  the  abolition  of  all  creeds  would 
make  for  religious,  for  Christian,  freedom.  The  question  as  to  how 
the  abolition  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  would  affect  freedom  fan  be 
discussed  only  after  we  have  considered  the  character  of  that  creed. 
Here  the  question  concerns  creeds  in  general.  And  there  is  no  more 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  abolition  of  all  creeds  would  make  for 
liberty  in  the  Church  any  more,  than  the  abolition  of  constitutions 
and  laws  would  make  for  liberty  in  the  State.  If  men  were  only 
isolated  individuals  they  would  need  no  constitutions,  no  laws,  and 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  235 

no  creeds.  But  if  men  find  their  true  life  not  in  isolation  but  in 
fellowship,  and  if  that  fellowship  rests  on  the  discovery  of  true 
relations  between  men,  then  laws  and  constitutions  are  but  the,  road 
to  freedom.  And  if  religious  freedom  goes  hand  in  hand  with  re- 
ligious fellowship,  then  the  creed  that  maintains  that  fellowship  is 
but  an  expression  of  the  truth  that  makes  men  free. 

Of  course  a  creed  may  be  misused.  It  may  be  interpreted  in  a 
narrow  and  coercive  way.  So  may  laws  and  constitutions  be  mis- 
used. Or  a  creed  may  be  a  false  creed,  expressing  untrue  rela- 
tions and  narrowing  fellowship.  So  may  constitutions  and  laws  be 
falsely  formed  and  thus  may  produce  slavery.  There  is  the  danger 
of  tyranny,  whether  in  State  or  Church.  And  always  men  are  to  be 
found  who  hold  that  tyranny  can  be  destroyed  only  by  anarch5% 
that  liberty*  can  be  maintained  only  by  the  abolition  of  law.  But 
that  way  madness  lies.  The  cure  for  misuse  of  law  is  right  use  of 
law.  The  cure  for  bad  law  is  good  law.  When  laws  rightly  express 
the  life  of  a  people  and  are  administered  to  protect  that  life,  then 
they  are  the  guarantees  of  freedom.  So  must  it  be  with  Christian 
liberty.  If  a  creed  is  a  false  creed  or  is  falsely  used,  then  it  will 
produce  slavery.  But  the  cure  for  that  slavery  will  be  a  true  creed 
and  a  true  conception  of  its  use. 

Confessions  of  faith  have  their  value.  The  work  that  is 
to  save  the  world  must  be  a  federated  work;  there  must  be 
discipline,  organization,  unity,  of  thought,  life  and  action. 
The  church  must  learn  not  only  to  sing  the  same  hymns,  but 
to  think  the  same  great  thoughts  and  to  utter  the  same  great 
convictions.    Creeds  are  a  nonnal  expression  of  corporate  life. 

A  common  faith  calls  for  a  common  expression.  Novalis 
said,  "My  belief  gains  quite  infinitely  the  moment  I  can  con- 
vince another  mind  of  it."  The  promise  of  God  is  to  those 
who  agree  on  earth  as  touching  any  one  thing.  With  the 
mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation  and  that  confession 
is  more  than  the  confession  of  an  individual  soul  and  that 
salvation  is  social  as  well  as  personal.  The  truths  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  clamor  for  utterance.  If  Christians  should  hold 
their  peace  the  veiy  stones  would  cry  out.  Principal  Eainy 
in  Ms  chapter  on  ' '  Creeds  and  Confessions ' '  in  his  Cmming- 
ham  Lecture,  says :  "A  high  Christian  enthusiasm  has  usually 
been  connected  with  strong  and  decided  affirmation  of  doctrine, 
and  with  a  disposition  to  speak  it  out  ever  more  fully.  That 
temper  has  been  venturesome  to  speak  even  as  it  has  been 


236     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

venturesome  to  do ;  as  little  fearing  to  declare  G  od  's  Word  in 
human  speech,  as  to  embody  His  will  in  human  acts." 

But  if  Christians  are  to  utter  their  faith  unitedly  they 
must  find  common  terms  in  which  that  faith  can  be  expressed : 
for  expressed  it  must  be  if  it  is  to  live.  Pix)f .  W.  A.  Curtis 
says:  ''If  we  know  in  whom  we  have  believed,  and  in  what 
we  have  believed,  it  is  a  Christian's  duty  to  proclaim  it, 
should  be  a  Christian's  pride,  and  will  prove  a  marvellous 
reinforcement  of  a  Christian's  power.  Faith  that  is  genuine 
will  out.  Faith  that  is  uttered  will  grow  in  the  believer  and 
will  lay  hold  upon  others.  It  is  a  law  of  spiritual  nature. 
The  men  who  toiled  to  compose  Confessions  knew  it  well  and 
counted  upon  it.  Above  all  the  various  particular  objects 
that  they  had  in  vieAV,  the  vindication  of  their  teaching  against 
misrepresentation  and  attack,  the  settlement  of  controversy, 
the  ratification  of  ecclesiastical  union  or  reunion,  the  deter- 
mination of  orthodoxy,  and  the  provision  of  a  dogmatic  stand- 
ard of  discipline,  they  felt  that  it  was  the  burden  and  glory 
of  faith  to  find  articulate  expression,  and  that  the  communion 
of  believers  needed  reliable  guidance  in  believing. ' ' 

Congregational  scholars  who  have  been  stoutest  in  their 
protest  against  the  use  of  creeds  as  a  test  have  been  strongest 
in  their  belief  in  the  practical  value  of  creeds  as  a  testimony. 
Dr.  Quint,  who  constantly  quoted  with  the  heartiest  approval 
Cotton  Mather's  ''golden  phrase"  "Let  the  terms  of  com- 
munion run  parallel  with  the  terms  of  salvation, ' '  held  also  to 
the  value  of  creeds  as  an  expression  of  the  common  life  of 
Christians.  In  his  article  in  the  Congregational  Quarterly  in 
1869  in  which  more  fully  than  anywhere  else  he  set  forth  his 
views  on  this  subject  he  said, — 

We  say,  then,  in  the  golden  phrase  of  Cotton  Mather,  let  'the 
terms  of  communion  run  parallel  v/ith  the  terms  of  salvation.'  Re- 
form whatever  is  contrary  to  this  rule  as  unscriptural,  and  also, 
as  history  shows,  an  innovation  upon  the  primitive  and  catholic 
way. 

Articles  of  doctrinal  belief — a  creed — are  essential  to  the  his- 
toric church,  and  to  every  organization  that  is  truly  a  part  thereof. 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  237 

For  the  Creed,  the  compend  of  the  doctrines  that  have  from  time  to 
time  been  wrought  out  of  Scripture  through  the  experiences  of 
study  and  conflict,  is  an  important  part  of  the  history  of  the  church. 
The  fruits  of  the  Christian  experience  are  precious.  A  "church"  that 
discards  them  is  an  alien  body,  without  interest  or  right  in  "the  holy 
church  universal  throughout  all  the  world."  A  lack  of  the  historic 
spirit,  which  feeds  on  the  fruits  of  the  past,  impoverishes  the  poet, 
the  philosopher,  the  statesman,  and  no  less  the  Christian  and  the 
church.  The  creed  of  the  historic  church  will  be  a  catholic  creed, — 
not  emphasizing  the  shibboleths  of  sect  or  school.  As  the  historic 
testimony  of  the  church  to  the  true  meaning  of  the  Word  of  God, 
it  will  be  borne  in  public, — and  read  upon  solemn  sacramental  days. 
Why  not,  when  no  Fourth  of  July  celebration  is  complete  without  a 
public  reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence?  'Ye  shall  know 
the  truth,"  said  Christ,  "and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  It 
should  be  owned  and  consented  to  by  every  one  who  is  "set  for  the 
defence  of  the  Gk)spel,"  ministers  and  office-bearers  in  the  church; 
and  for  this  use,  the  fuller  the  better;  the  freer  from  the  double  en- 
tendres  of  biblical  phraseology,  the  better  also.  For  the  biblical 
phraseologj'  is  the  very  thing  which  the  creed  undertakes  to  in- 
terpret. 

Doctrinal  articlcis  being  the  products  of  the  spiritual  life,  the 
developments  of  Christian  experience  i.rom  the  Word  of  God,  we 
have  in  the  creed  thus  formed  the  Word  of  God  tested  by  history, — 
a  test  as  much  more  conclusive  than  that  of  any  individual  mind  as 
the  sum  of  the  Christian  centuries  is  longer  than  a  single  life.  And 
so  we  may  say,  slightly  altering  Shiller's  famous  phrase,  the  history 
of  doctrine  is  the  judgment  of  doctrine.  In  the  evangelical  creed, 
then,  concerning  man's  sinfulness  and  moral  impotence,  Christ's 
atoning  sacrifice,  the  Holy  Ghost's  regenerating  work,  the  everlast- 
ing state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  the  deity  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  the  tripersonality  of  God,  we  hear,  not  the  scattered  voices  of 
individuals,  but  the  authoritative  testimony  of  History  herself,  re- 
affirming the  declaration  of  the  apostle,  "These  things  are  good  and 
profitable  unto  men."  This  is  nothing  less  than  the  testimony  of 
time  to  the  truth  of  eternity. 

A  widtten  creed,  while  tending  often  to  controversy,  when 
appealed  to  as  an  unvarying  standard,  has  a  certain  practical 
advantage  in  taking  a  controverted  subject  out  of  the  realm 
of  necessary  and  constant  definition.  It  has  often  been  noted 
that  denominations  Avith  no  written  creed  are  under  special 
necessity  of  constantly  defining  their  unwritten  creed.  If  a 
written  creed  is  not  made  an  object  of  worship,  is  not  upheld 
as  something  worthy  of  perpetual  veneration,  the  writing  of 
it  may  sometimes  serve  as  a  guarantee  that  certain  doctrines 
contained  in  it  do  not  require  constant  iteration.    The  writing 


238    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

of  them  permits  of  their  being  pigeonholed;  they  may  be 
' '  folioed  and  forgot, ' '  yet  if  any  one  wants  to  know  what  was 
the  last  high-water  mark  of  doctrine  on  that  particular  denom- 
inational shore,  it  is  safely  registered  in  a  well  authenticated 
creed,  which  may  be  produced  on  occasion  and  put  away  until 
needed  again.  Mark  Twain  wrote  a  story  when  the  bell-punch 
first  came  to  be  used  upon  the  street  cars.  The  conductor  was 
required  to  ''punch  in  the  presence  of  the  passenger."  That 
phrase,  with  its  lilt  and  alliteration,  could  but  be  provocative 
of  an  effort  to  make  a  jingle;  and  Mr.  Clemens  told  how  he 
made  a  couplet,  which  rang  through  his  mind  day  and  night, 
until  it  nearly  drove  him  mad,  but  which  he  was  able  finally 
to  forget  when  he  had  taught  it  to  some  one  else.  There  is  a 
bit  of  genuine  psychology  in  the  story.  A  creed  becomes  both 
more  and  less  harmful  when  it  is  written,  and  one  good  thing 
about  the  writing  of  it  is  that  the  writing  may  become  a  whole- 
some means  to  its  removal  from  the  sphere  of  active  discussion, 
necessitated  by  unwritten  creeds. 

As  this  book  was  moving  toward  the  press,  the  second 
inaugural  of  Wilson  and  Marshall  occurred.  Vice-President 
Marshall 's  inaugural  address  attracted  some  comment  because 
it  was  confessedly  a  creed.    He  said, 

' '  May  I  make  bold  to  insert  in  the  record  some  elements  of 
the  creed  which  I  have  adopted  in  this  period  ? ' '  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  deliver  his  brief  address  in  credal  form.  The  creed, 
which  occupied  the  whole  of  his  brief  address,  consisted  of 
these  four  articles,  which  the  Vice-President  amplified  only  a 
little,  and  which  we  may  here  condense : 

VICE-PRESIDENT  MARSHALL'S  CREED 

The  creed  which  I  have  adopted  in  this  period  does  not  embrace 
what  I  know,  but  holds  part  of  what  I  believe. 

I  have  faith  that  this  government  of  ours  was  divinely  ordained 
to  disclose  whether  men  are  by  nature  fitted  or  can  by  education  be 
made  fit  for  self  government. 

I  believe  that  the  world,  now  advancing  and  now  retreating,  is 
nevertheless  moving  forward  to  a  far  off  divine  event  wherein  the 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE  AND   ABUSE  239 

tongues  of  Babel  will  again  be  blended  in  the  language  of  a  common 
brotherhood.  ...  I  believe  there  is  no  finer  form  of  government 
than  the  one  under  which  we  live  and  that  I  ought  to  be  willing  to 
live  or  to  die,  as  God  decrees,  that  it  may  not  perish  from  off  the 
earth. 

I  believe  that  though  my  first  right  is  to  be  a  partisan,  that  my 
first  duty,  when  the  only  principles  on  which  free  government  can 
rest  are  being  strained,  is  to  be,  a  patriot  and  to  follow  in  a  wilder- 
ness of  words  that  clear  call  which  bids  me  guard  and  defend  the 
ark  of  our  national  covenant. 

This  Utterance  was  unique  as  to  form  only,  and  not  as  to 
fact.  President  Wilson's  address  was  just  as  certainly  a 
creed,  uttered  as  his  own  creed  and  the  nation's.  With  no 
violence  to  its  spirit  it  could  easily  be  recast  as  to  the  intro- 
ductory words  of  its  successive  clauses,  so  as  to  read : 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  CREED 

These,  therefore,,  are  the  things  we  shall  stand  for,  whether  in 
war  or  in  peace; 

We  believe  that  all  nations  are  equally  interested  in  the  peace 
of  the  world  and  in  the  political  stability  of  free  peoples,  and  equal- 
ly responsible  for  their  maintainance; 

We  believe  that  the  essential  principle  of  peace  is  the  actual 
equality  of  nations  in  all  matters  of  right  or  privilege; 

We  believe  that  peace  cannot  securely  or  justly  rest  upon  an 
armed  balance  of  power; 

We  believe  that  governments  derive  all  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed  and  that  no  other  powers  should  be 
supported  by  the  common  thought,  purpose  or  power  of  the  family 
of  nations. 

We  believe  that  the  seas  should  be  equally  free  and  safe  for  the 
use  of  all  peoples,  under  rules  set  up  by  common  agreement  and  con- 
sent, and  that,  so  far  as  practicable,  they  should  be  accessible  to 
all  upon  equal  terms. 

That  we  believe  national  armaments  should  be  limited  to  the 
necessities  of  national  order  and  domestic  safety. 

We  believe  that  the  community  of  interest  and  of  power  upon 
which  peace  must  henceforth  depend  imposes  upon  each  nation  the 
duty  of  seeing  to  it  that  all  influences  proceeding  from  its  own  citi- 
zens meant  to  encourage  or  assist  revolution  in  other  states  should 
be  sternly  and  effectually  suppressed  and  prevente,d. 

I  need  not  argue  these  principles  to  you,  my  fellow  countrymen; 
they  are  your  own,  part  and  parcel  of  your  own  thinking  and  your 
own  motive  in  affairs.  They  spring  up  native  among  us.  Upon  this 
platform  of  purpose  and  of  action  we  can  stand  together. 


240     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Every  president's  inaugural  address  of  any  note  has  been 
a  creed.  The  significant  utterances  are  all  in  terms  not  of 
knowledge  but  of  faith  and  conviction.  It  is  not  the  facts  of 
demonstrable  knowledge  that  move  men,  but  their  beliefs.  No 
man  is  known  to  have  laid  down  his  life  in  support  of  his  posi- 
tive knowledge  that  the  multiplication  table  is  true,  nor  shed 
his  heart's  blood  to  convince  the  world  of  the  truth  of  the 
binomial  theorem,  nor  gone  singing  to  the  stake  to  demonstrate 
the  pons  asinorum.  ' '  We  believe,  and  therefore  speak. ' '  The 
words  of  Vice-President  Marshall  in  introducing  his  creed  are 
pertinent : 

' '  The  creed  which  I  have  adopted  in  this  period  .... 
does  not  embrace  what  I  know,  but  holds  part  of  what  I  be- 
lieve. ' ' 

It  is  said  that  a  Congregational  minister  was  once  preach- 
ing in  an  Episcopal  school,  and  that  they  brought  him  a  sur- 
plice.   He  asked, 

"Am  I  required  to  wear  this?  Because,  if  I  am  not  re- 
quired to  wear  it,  I  will ;  but  if  I  am  required  to  wear  it,  I 
will  not. ' ' 

That  is  an  entirely  consistent  attitude  for  a  Congrega- 
tionalist  concerning  many  things  about  which  Congregation- 
alists  have  appeared  to  be  obstinate.  They  will  go  almost  any 
length  to  walk  in  fellowship  with  other  Christians  until  the 
element  of  assumed  authority  intrudes ;  there  they  halt.  Sur- 
plice, ritual  and  creed  are  to  Congregationalists  mere  instru- 
ments of  possible  effective  co-operation.  When  so  employed, 
they  are  not  objected  to,  and  may  be  gladly  adopted.  But 
when  they  become  matters  in  which  one  Christian,  calling  him- 
self bishop  or  pope,  or  one  group  of  Christians,  calling  itself 
by  whatever  name,  seeks  to  impose  a  form  of  words  upon  an- 
other Christian  or  group  of  Christians,  then  Congregational- 
ists stop,  and  if  necessary,  fight. 

There  is  occasion  now  and  then  for  Congregationalists  to 
dissent  from  the  well  meant  endeavor  of  some  honored  member 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  241 

of  their  omi  communion,  who,  impressed  by  what  seems  to 
him  the  importance  of  a  particular  doctrine,  may  demand  that 
some  ecclesiastical  body,  or  the  whole  denomination,  go  on 
record  concerning  it  in  a  manner  that  virtually  makes  it  a 
ca-eedal  test.  In  such  a  case  the  question  is  not  whether  the 
members  affected  believe  or  dd  not  believe  the  particular  doe- 
trine  affirmed  and  sought  to  be  imposed ;  the  question  is  of  the 
right  of.  any  Congregationalist  or  other  person  to  place  the 
denomination,  or  any  part  thereof,  on  record  in  terms  of  his 
own  choosing. 

This  is  one  reason  why,  at  a  service  or  ordination  or 
installation,  the  candidate  is  always  permitted  first  to  state  his 
belief  in  his  own  terms;  no  other  Congregationalist  has  the 
right  to  choose  for  him  the  fonn  of  words  in  which  he  shall 
be  compelled  to  express  his  faith.  It  is  a  reason  why  in  the 
early  churches  individual  Christians  applying  for  membership 
often  presented  written  statements  of  their  own  setting  forth 
in  their  own  language  the  faith  which  they  professed. 

Channing  spoke  not  primarily  for  Unitarianism  but  for 
historic  Congregationalism  in  his  noble  utterance  against 
bondage  to  creeds. 

When  I  bring  them  into  contrast  with  the  New  Testament,  into 
what  insignificance  do  they  sink!  What  are  they?  Skeletons,  freez- 
ing abstractions,  metaphysical  expressions  of  unintelligible  dogmas; 
and  these  I  am  to  regard  as  the  expositions  of  the  fresh,  living,  In- 
finite, truth  which  came  from  Jesus!  I  might  with  equal  propriety 
be  required  to  hear  and  receive  the  lispings  of  infancy  as  the  ex- 
pressions of  wisdom.  Creeds  are  to  the  Scriptures  what  rushlights 
are  to  the  sun.  The  creed-maker  defines  Jesus  in  half  a  dozen  lines, 
perhaps  in  metaphysical  terms,  and  calls  me  to  assent  to  this  ac- 
count of  my  Saviour.  I  ,learn  less  of  Christ,  by  this  process,  than 
I  should  learn  of  the  sun,  by  being  told  that  this  glorious  luminary 
is  a  circle  about  a  foot  in  diameter.  There  is  but  one  way  of  know- 
ing Christ.  We  must  place  ourselves  near  him,  see  him,  hear  him, 
follow  him  from  his  cross  to  the  heavens,  sympathize  with  him  and 
obey  him,  and  thus  catch  clear  and  bright  glimpses  of  his  divine 
glory. 

Christian  truth  is  infinite.  Who  can  think  of  shutting  it  up  in 
a  few  lines  of  an  abstract  creed?  You  might  as  well  compress  the 
boundless   atmosphere,   the   fire,   the   all-pervading  light,   the   free 


242     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

winds  of  the  universe,  into  separate  parcels,  and  weigh  and  label 
them,  as  break  up  Christianity  into  a  few  propositions.  Christian- 
ity is  freer,  more  illimitable,  than  the  light  or  the  winds.  It  is  too 
mighty  to  be  bound  down  by  man's  puny  hands.  It  is  a  spirit, 
rather  than  a  rigid  doctrine, — the  spirit  of  boundless  love.  The  in- 
finite cannot  be  defined  and  measured  out  like  a  human  manufac- 
ture. It  cannot  be  reduced  to  a  system.  It  cannot  be  comprehend- 
ed in  a  set  of  precise  ideas.  It  is  to  be  felt  rather  than  described. 
The  spiritual  impressions  which  a  true  Christian  receives  from 
the  character  and  teachings  of  Christ,  and  in  which  thei  chief  ef- 
ficacy of  the  religion  lies,  can  be  poorly  brought  out  in  words.  Words 
are  but  brief,  rude  hints  of  a  Christian's  mind.  Its  thoughts  and 
feelings  overflow  them.  To  those  who  feel  as  he  does,  he  can  make 
himself  known;  for  such  can  understand  the  tones  of  the  heart; 
but  he  can  no  more  lay  down  his  religion  in  a  series  of  abstract 
propositions,  than  he  can  make  known  by  a  few  vague  terms  the 
expressive  features  and  inmost  soul  of  a  much-loved  friend.  It 
has  been  the  fault  of  all  sects,  that  they  have  been  too  anxious  to 
define  their  religion.  They  have  labored  to  circumscribe  the  in- 
finite. Christianity,  as  it  exists  in  the  mind  of  the  true  disciple,  is 
not  made  up  of  fragments,  of  separate  ideas,  which  he  can  express 
in  detached  propositions.  It  is  a  vast  and  ever-unfolding  whole, 
pervaded  by  one  spirit,  each  precept  and  doctrine  deriving  its  vi- 
tality from  its  union  with  all.  When  I  see  this  generous,  heavenly 
doctrine  compressed  and  cramped  in  human  creeds,  I  feel  as  I 
should  were  I  to  see  screws  and  chains  applied  to  the  countenance 
and  limbs  of  a  noble  fellow-creature,  deforming  and  destroying  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  works  of  God. 

From  the  infinity  of  Christian  truth,  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
it  follows  that  our  views  of  it  must  always  be  very  imperfect,  and 
ought  to  be  continually  enlarged.  The  wisest  theologians'  are 
children  who  have  caught  but  faint  glimpses  of  the  religion;  who 
have  taken  but  their  first  lessons;  and  whose  business  it  is  "to 
grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ."  Need  I  say  how  hostile 
to  this  growth  is  a  fixed  creed,  beyond  which  we  must  never  wander? 
Such  a  religion  as  Christ's  demands  the  highest  possible  activity  and 
freedom  of  the  soul.  Every  new  gleam  of  light  should  be  welcomed 
with  joy.  Every  hint  should  be  followed  out  with  eagerness.  Every 
whisper  of  the  divine  voice  in  the  soul  should  be  heard.  The  love  of 
Christian  truth  should  be  so  Intense,  as  to  make  us  willing  to  part 
with  all  other  things  for  a  better  comprehension  of  it.  Who  does  not 
see  that  human  creeds,  setting  bounds  to  thought,  and  telling  us 
where  all  inquiry  must  stop,  tend  to  repress  this  holy  zeal,  to  shut 
our  eyes  on  new  illumination,  to  hem  us  within  the  beaten  paths  of 
man's  construction,  to  arrest  that  perpetual  progress  which  is  the 
life  and  glory  of  an  immortal  mind? 

It  is  another  and  great  objection  to  creeds,  that,  wherever  they 
acquire  authority,  they  interfere  with  that  simplicity  and  godly  sin- 
cerity on  which  the  efllcacy  of  religious  teaching  very  much  de- 
pends. That  a  minister  should  speak  with  power,  it  is  important 
that  he  should  speak  from  his  own  soul,  and  not  studiously  con- 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  243 

form  himself  to  modes  of  speaking  which  others  have  adopted.  It 
is  important  that  he  should  give  out  the  truth  in  the  very  form  In 
which  it  presents  itself  to  his  mind,  in  the  very  words  which  offex 
themselves  spontaneously  as  the  clothing  of  his  thoughts.  To  ex- 
press our  own  minds  frankly,  directly,  fearlessly,  is  the  way  to 
reach  other  minds.  Now  it  is  the  effect  of  creeds  to  check  this 
free  utterance  of  thought.  The  minister  must  seek  words  which 
will  not  clash  with  the  consecrated  articles  of  his  church.  If  new 
ideas  spring  up  in  his  mind,  not  altogether  consonant  with  what 
the  creedmonger  has  established,  he  must  cover  them  with  misty 
language.  It  he  happen  to  doubt  the  standard  of  his  church,  he 
must  strain  its  phraseology,  must  force  it  beyond  its  obvious  im- 
port, that  he  may  give  his  assent  to  it  without  departures  fi'om 
truth.  All  these  processes  must  have,  a  blighting  effect  on  the 
mind  and  heart.  They  impair  self-respect.  They  cloud  the  Intel- 
lectual eye.  They  accustom  men  to  tamper  with  truth.  In  propor- 
tion as  a  man  dilutes  his  thought,  and  suppresses  his  conviction, 
to  save  his  orthodoxy  from  suspicion;  in  proportion  as  he  borrows 
his  words  from  others,  instead  of  speaking  in  his  own  tongue;  in 
proportion  as  he  distorts  language  from  its  common  use,  that  he 
may  stand  well  with  his  party;  in  that  proportion  he  clouds  and 
degrades  his  intellect,  as  well  as  undermines  the  manliness  and  in- 
tegrity of  his  character.  How  deeply  do  I  commiserate  the  minister, 
who,  in  the  warmth  and  freshness  of  youth,  is  visited  with  glimpses 
of  higher  truth  than  is  embodied  in  the  creed,  but  who  dares  not 
be  just  to  himself,  and  is  made,  to  echo  what  is  not  the  simple, 
natural  expression  of  his  own  mind!  Better  were  it  for  us  to  beg 
our  bread  and  clothe  ourselves  in  rags,  than  to  part  with  Christian 
simplicity  and  frankness.  Better  for  a  minister  to  preach  in  barns 
or  the  open  air,  where  he  may  speak  the  truth  from  the  fulness  of 
his  soul,  than  to  lift  up  in  cathedrals,  amidst  pomp  and  wealth,  a 
voice  which  is  not  true  to  his  inward  thoughts.  If  they  who  wear 
the  chains  of  creeds  once  knew  the  happiness  of  breathing  the  air 
of  freedom,  and  of  moving  with  an  unencumbered  spirit,  no  wealth 
or  power  in  the  world's  gift  would  bribe  them  to  part  with  their 
spiritual  liberty. 

Great  violence  has  been  done  to  the  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament  in  the  effort  to  make  it  appear  that  subjects  of 
baptism  were  first  required  to  assent  to  a  creed.  Particularly 
has  this  error  attached  itself  to  the  two  incidents  of  the  bap- 
tism of  the  Philippian  jailor  and  of  the  Ethopian  eunuch. 
In  the  ease  of  the  former  it  is  important  to  remember  that 
Paul's  word,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved ; ' '  cannot  by  any  posisbility  have  suggested  to 
the  jailor  the  idea  of  a  credal  test.  It  must  have  meant  to 
him  the  simplest  possible  committal  of  his  life  in  trust  to  the 


244    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Master  who  had  given  such  power  and  courage  as  the  jailor 
beheld  in  Paul  and  Silas.  The  jailor  knew  practically  noth- 
ing about  Jesus  except  what  he  saw  reflected  in  the  fortitude 
of  these  brave  disciples.  Nothing  would  have  been  farther 
from  the  sphere  of  possibility  than  that  he  should  have  for- 
mulated a  creed,  or  been  able  intelligently  to  have  assented  to 
one.  Neither  there  nor  anywhere  else  in  the  New  Testament 
was  belief  identical  with  an  intellectual  affirmation.  Believ- 
ing in  Christ  is  not  the  same  as  conjecturing  something  about 
Christ.  Saving  faith  is  quite  another  thing  than  the  formu- 
lation of  a  correct  opinion. 

In  the  case  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  we  meet  with  a  clear 
interpolation.  The  Revised  Versions  unhesitatingly  omit  the 
verse  (Acts  8:  37)  in  which  Philip  is  made  to  impose  a  creed 
upon  his  convert.  The  eunuch  saw  water  and  said,  ''Behold, 
here  is  water ;  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ? ' '  And  the 
account  goes  straight  on  to  tell  that  he  commanded  the  chariot 
to  stand  still,  and  that  they  both  descended,  and  Philip  bap- 
tized him.  A  good  while  afterward,  when  it  had  become  cus- 
tomary for  catecumens  to  make  a  confession  of  their  faith  pre- 
liminary^ to  baptism,  some  good  man  reading  the  account 
thought  Philip  had  been  negligent,  and  invented  the  little  dia- 
logue in  which  Philip  said,  "If  thou  believest  with  all  thy 
heart,  thou  mayest. ' '  And  according  to  this  interesting  fiction 
the  eunuch  answered,  "I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  son 
cfGod." 

Very  likely  the  eunuch  did  so  believe,  to  the  exten.t  that 
such  a  belief  was  possible  at  the  end  of  one  brief  lesson,  given 
under  the  conditions  described;  and  that  belief  was  a  factor 
by  no  means  negligible  in  the  decision  of  the  eunuch  to  ask 
for  baptism,  and  in  the  readiness  of  Philip  to  administer  it. 
But  it  was  the  afterthought  of  a  creed-making  generation  that 
caused  Philip  to  thrust  between  him  and  his  baptism  the  for- 
mality of  assent  to  a  creed. 


CREEDS:     THEIR   USE   AND   ABUSE  245 

It  needs  to  be  said  a  thousand  times  that  faith  in  Christ 
is  a  very  different  thing  from  opinion  or  conjecture  concerning 
Christ.  Men  have  sought  repeatedly  and  with  great  damage 
to  Christianity  to  identify  faith  with  intellectual  opinion. 
Such  an  effort  involves  a  hopeless  confusion  of  mind  as  to  the 
essential  content  of  faith. 

Many  good  people  have  assumed  that  their  faith  in  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  was  in  some  way  bound  up  with  their 
ability  to  declare  their  unfaltering  confidence  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  Virgin  Birth.  It  is  impossible  to  find  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  any  word  from  which  one  might  infer  that  He  had  any 
particular  interest  in  such  a  doctrine,  or  that  He  would  ever 
have  consented  that  faith  in  Him  should  be  dependent  upon  its 
acceptance. 

During  the  period  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  candidacy  for 
the  presidency  reports  were  circulated  in  every  part  of  the 
nation  that  he  was  an  illegitimate  child.  If  HeiTidon,  Lin- 
coln's law  partner,  is  to  be  believed,  Lincoln  himself  thought 
this  to  be  true  and  was  profoundly  saddened  by  it.  Not  till 
many  years  aftenvard  was  the  record  of  his  parents'  legal 
marriage  established,  more  than  a  year  before  his  birth,  and 
recorded  in  another  county  than  that  in  which  Lincoln  ap- 
pears to  have  believed  it  should  have  been  recorded.  Did 
the  man  w^ho  in  1860  or  1864  voted  for  Lincoln,  saying  as  he 
did  so,  ' '  I  believe  in  Abrahajn  Lincoln, ' '  mean  by  that  he  had 
confidence  that  there  somewhere  existed  a  certificate  of  mar- 
riage of  Abraham  Lincoln 's  parents  f  "Was  every  man  a  traitor 
who  had  an  honest  doubt  upon  this  question  ?  If  so,  Herndon 
was  a  traitor,  and  probably  Lincoln  also.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
a  voter  might  easily  have  said,  ' '  I  hope  those  reports  are  false, 
but  I  have  no  means  of  proving  that  to  be  the  case;  and 
whether  they  are  false  or  true  I  believe  in  Abraham  Lincoln." 
In  like  manner  a  Christian  may  say,  ' '  I  should  be  very  sorry 
to  lose  out  of  the  Christmas  story  the  beautiful  narrative  in 
the  beginning  of  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  Luke;  but  if  I 


246     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

should  ever  become  convinced  that  these  were  the  reverent 
efforts  of  a  later  age  to  account  for  the  unique  personality  of 
Jesus,  and  that  He  was  in  fact  the  legitimate  son  of  Joseph 
and  Mary,  born  in  lawful  wedlock,  upon  whom  came  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  such  measure  that  God  became  manifest  in  His  flesh, 
I  should  still  believe  in  Him  as  the  Son  of  God,  my  Lord 
and  Saviour." 

Such  a  man's  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  would  rest  upon  his 
belief  in  what  Jesus  was  and  is,  and  not  on  any  speculative^ 
opinion  as  to  how  He  becomes  so. 

There  is  an  important  distinction  between  the  confession 
of  faith  in  a  creed,  and  in  adherence  to  the  system  of  faith 
which  the  creed  embodies.  The  man  who  drinks  from  a  spring 
may  express  his  gratitude  for  the  water  with  little  thought  of 
the  vessel  in  which  the  water  is  conveyed  to  his  lips.  Our 
fathers  expressed  their  faith  through  certain  creeds,  but  their 
faith  was  not  identical  Avith  the  creeds.  It  was  always  a  greater 
thing  than  the  creeds  could  by  any  possibility  confine.  No 
one  lake  reflects  the  whole  heaven;  no  one  cup  contains  the 
ocean  out  of  which  it  dips  water.  Our  fathers  drank  of  the 
Rock  that  followed  them,  and  we  drink  of  the  same  flowing 
stream.  Their  creed  was  their  cup,  and  because  it  conveyed 
the  water  of  their  spiritual  life  we  honor  it.  But  we  confess 
our  loyalty  to  the  same  faith,  perhaps  in  quite  other  forms. 
Certainly  our  faith  must  be  confessed  in  the  language  of  our 
own  generation. 


II.    THE  ETHICS  OF  CREED  SUBSCRIPTION 

Few  subjects  have  given  rise  to  more  distress,  among  min- 
isters than  those  arising  out  of  questions  of  conscience  touching 
the  authority  of  creeds.  To  what  extent  is  a  minister  bound  by 
the  creed  he  is  supposed  to  have  accepted?  It  might  be  sup- 
posed that  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  a  priest  would  be 
able  to  say  that  the  church  has  assumed  the  responsibility  of 
determining  what  he  shall  teach,  and  that  between  his  personal, 
opinions  as  a  man  and  his  official  utterances  as  a  priest,  there 
is  a  great  gulf  fixed.  Many  priests  do  assume  just  this  and 
their  consciences  may  be  supposed  to  be  more  or  less  clear,  but 
we  have  abundant  witness  that  in  all  ages  the  more  conscien- 
tious and  consistent  even  of  Roman  Catholic  priests  have  not 
been  wholly  satisfied  with  this  view  of  the  case.  Thousands 
of  distinguished  priests  have  been  lost  to  that  and  to  the  Epis- 
copal Church  because  they  could  no  longer  subscribe  to 
creeds  which  they  did  not  believe.  Still  more  keen  has  been 
the  anguish  of  ministers  whose  churches  hold  no  such  theory  of 
responsibility  assumed  by  ecclesiastical  authority.  Some  min- 
isters have  felt  constrained  to  retire  from  the  ministry  almost 
at  the  first  divergence  of  their  own  views  from  those  of  the 
creeds  by  which  they  supposed  themselves  to  have  been  bound. 
Others  have  gone  hastily  into  their  pulpits,  denouncing  all 
creeds,  particularly  the  creeds  to  which  they  have  themselves 
subscribed,  and  this  usually  with  little  comfort  to  their  own 
consciences,  or  to  the  peace  of  mind  of  their  congregations. 

High  ecclesiastics  have  been  prone  to  the  same  narrow 
view  as  the  business  man.  Lord  Morley'8  strong  essay  on 
''Compromise"  in  his  lectures  on  "The  Ethics  of  Religious 
Conformity  and  Clerical  Veracity"  is  able  but  one-sided.    His 

247 


248     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

fundamental  declaration,  "It  makes  all  the  difference  in  the 
world  whether  we  put  Tiiith  in  the  first  place,  or  in  the  second 
place,"  has  settled  the  question  for  a  great  many  people  who 
wanted  a  short-cut  to  a  solution  of  a  difficult  problem.  For, 
in  a  different  spirit  than  that  of  Pilate,  we  must  ask,  What 
is  Truth?  The  particular  truth  on  which  Lord  Morley  based 
his  declaration  was  the  indubitable  fact  that  a  particular  min- 
ister had  assented  to  a  particular  creed  and  therefore  in  the 
interests  of  truth  must  hold  and  teach  it..  Is  this  all  there  is 
of  the  matter?  Has  the  minister  assented  to  that  creed  as  a 
complete,  final  and  unalterable  compendium  of  truth?  Not 
in  Congregationalism  certainly,  and  how  is  larger  truth  ever 
to  be  discovered  if  no  man  is  at  liberty  to  discover  anything 
not  already  embodied  in  a  creed?  Something  more  than  ab- 
stract truth  must  be  invoked  in  judging  men.  If  one  is  to  put 
truth  in  the  first  place  he  must  place  side  by  side  with  his 
creed  subscription  his  higher  loyalty  to  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
which  is  to  lead  men  into  all  truth. 

The  case  against  ministers  who  continue  to^  recite  creeds 
whose  words  no  longer  adequately  express  their  own  views, 
was  ably  set  forth  a  score  of  years  ago  by  Henry  Sedgwick 
in  his  "Practical  Ethics,"  containing  his  two  essays  on  "The 
Ethics  of  Religious  Conformity,"  and  "Clerical  Veracity." 
Sedgwick,  who  had  studied  for  the  Anglican  ministry,  gave  up 
his  fellowship  and  his  plan  to  enter  the  priesthood  when  he 
found  that  he  could  not  subscribe  to  the  creeds  of  the  Episco- 
pal Church.  Choosing  as  his  profession  teaching  instead  of 
preaching,  he  maintained  a  strong  interest  in  the  profession 
which  he  had  abandoned.  He  held  that  "Hj^pocrisy  and  in- 
sincere conformity  have  always  been  a  besetting  vice  of  es- 
tablished or  predominant  religion."  He  had  no  sjnnpathy 
with  men  who  occupy  positions  in  a  church  whose  fundamental 
tenets  they  have  discarded.  He  scorned  men  who  seem  to  be- 
lieve "that  any  clergjTnan  may  lie  without  scruple  in  the 
cause  of  religious  progress,  with  a  view  to  aiding  popular 


THE   ETHICS   OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  249 

education  in  the  new  theology,  and  still  feel  that  he  is  as 
veracious  as  his  profession  allows  him  to  be. ' ' 

Sedgwick,  therefore,  is  heldi  in  high  regard  by  all  ecclesi- 
asts  who  hold  the  letter  of  the  law  above  the  spirit.  He  has 
been  heartily  commended  of  late  by  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and 
has  received  favorable  mention  by  Archibald  Wier  in  an  arti- 
cle with  the  caustic  title  ' '  Criminous  Clerks ' '  in  the  Hibbart 
Journal  (July  1914).  That  article  proposed  to  raise  an  en- 
dowment fund  ''for  facilitating  the  resignation  of  doubting 
clergjnnen, "  and  spoke  of  thei  possible  benefit  to  secular  life 
of  having  men  who  now  are  held  in  bondage  to  creeds  they  do 
not  believe,  but  who  might  be  very  useful  in  other  vocations. 

But  that  article  has  been  answered  by  several  men  of 
high  standing  who  set  forth  with  considerable  cogency  that  the 
matter  is  not  ethically  so  simple  as  these  essays  assume. 

The  Athenasian  Creed  is  still  required  to  be  uttered  by 
priests  in  the  Anglican  Church.  The  ecclesiastics  who  stead- 
fastly resist  every  attempt  to  make  its  reading  optional  are 
also  busy  inventing  verbal  subleties  by  means  of  which  men 
may  continue  to  recite  it  without  supposing  themselves  to  be 
required  to  believe  it.  What  does  that  creed  affirm  or  assume 
to  be  the  essential  thing  of  Christianity? 

The  Athenasian  Creed  begins  with  this  affirmation. 
"Whosoever  will  be  saved,  before  all  things  it  is  necessary 
that  he  hold  the  Catholic  faith;  which  faith'  except  everyone 
do  keep  whole  and  undefiled,  Avithout  doubt  he  shall  ever- 
lastingly perish."  Then  it  goes  on  through  forty-four  arti- 
cles to  make  affirmations  which  it  is  completely  impossible  for 
any  intelligent  mind  to  hold  consistently, — affirmations  that 
are  thoroughly  self-contradictory  and  which  abound  in  meta- 
physical subleties.  Virtually,  there  is  nothing  of  the  spirit  of 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  in  this  creed  from  beginning  to  end.  Yet 
it  ends  as  it  begins  with  a  declaration  of  the  reality  of  ever- 
lasting fire,  into  which  each  man  is  to  be  cast  who  does  not 
believe  this  creed  in  its  entirety. 


250    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Now  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  Church  of  England  or  out 
of  it  who  can  whole-heartedly  and  unreservedly  say  he  believes 
that  creed  and  that  the  man  who  does  not  believe  it  to  its 
last  speculation  is  a  proper  subject  for  eternal  damnation. 
The  mind  utterly  revolts  at  the  inherent  atrocity  of  any  such 
conception.  Yet  there  is  the  creed,  which  by  good  fortune  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  America  got  rid  of  when  it  effected  an 
organization  separate  from  the  Church  of  England,  but  at 
that  same  time  the  American  Episcopal  Church  endeavored  to 
free  itself  from  the  incubus  of  the  Nicene  Creed  and  came 
very  near  to  accomplishing  this  desire.  The  Church  of  Eng- 
land refused  its  consent  to  so  wholesale  a  demolition  of  creeds. 
It  was  quite  \Aqlling  that  the  American  Episcopalians  should 
discard  the  Athenasian  Creed,  and  perhaps  would  have  been 
glad  itself  to  be  rid  of  it  if  it  could  have  done  m  and  saved  its 
face,  but  it  feared  lest  the  American  Episcopalians  should 
carry  the  process  too  far.  Therefore,  in  the  final  adjustment 
the  Nicene  Creed  was  saddled  upon  the  American  Episcopal 
Church  against  its  desire.  Did  that  fact  make  American 
Episcopalians  any  more  orthodox,  either  now  or  then?  Was 
the  American  Episcopal  Church  any  less  orthodox  than  it  had 
been  before,  or  became  afterward  during  the  few  months  when 
it  did  not  consider  itself  as  bound  by  the  Nicene  Creed?  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  is  that  creed  any  more  than  the  Athenasian 
Creed  a  certificate  of  orthodoxy? 

But  who  that  reads  the  Athenasian  Creed,  declaring  that 
'  *  Before  all  things  it  is  necessary ' '  to  believe  a  lot  of  absurdi- 
ties or  go  to  hell,  can  comprehend  how  the  people  who  framed 
that  intolerable  fetter  of  the  human  spirit  were  endeavoring 
to  set  forth  the  essential  truth  which  Jesus  uttered  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or  in  Paul  'si  triumphant  declaration  of 
the  freedom  of  the  soul  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 

On  creed-subscription  as  affording  a  supposed  basis  for 
orthodoxy  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  professor's  chair,  a  wise 


THE   ETHICS    OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  251 

word  has  been  uttered  by  Prof.  Clarence  A.  Beckwith,  of 
Chicago  Theological  Seminary : 

Creed-subscription  is  the  relic  of  an  antiquated  ecclesiastical 
or  political  condition  in  which  the  ruling  power  claimed  absolute 
authority  over  the  beliefs  and  actions  of  men.  The  motive  was  to 
guard  against  any  deviation  from  the  given  standard  which  would 
issue  in  teaching  or  practice  out  of  accord  with  the  centralized 
decision  or  dogma  which  had  been  ordained. 

In  its  ecclesiastical  bearings  it  appears  to  me  that  creed-sub- 
scription rests  upon  several  untenable  assirmptions: 

(1)  That  a  particular  organization  imposing  this  requirement, 
possesses  the  "final  faith,"  and  that  the  tenets  to  w  hich  subscrip- 
tion is  demanded  are  stated  in  such  terms  as  admit  of  but  one  inter- 
pretation. 

(2)  That  the  creed  proposed  contains  the  complete  and  there- 
fore the  only  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  matters  in  question. 

(3)  That  it  would  be  possible  for  two  men  to  assign  an  identical 
meaning  to  any  and  all  propositions  which  belong  to  the  field  of 
theological  doctrine. 

(4)  That  a  body  of  men,  all  of  whom  are  fallible,  who  formu- 
late a  creed  which  is  in  every  instance  a  compromise  and  therefore 
does  not  express  the  exact  belief  of  any  individual,  have  a  right  to 
require  of  a  fellow-man,  equally  gifted  with  them  in  mental  and 
spiritual  furnishing,  that  he  yield  to  their  dogmas  an  unquestion- 
ing and  unqualified  assent. 

(5)  That  every  teacher  has  not  the  same  right  of  freedom  of 
inquiry  and  opinion  which  was  claimed  by  those  who  propounded 
the  creed  in  question,  and  that  in  the  use  of  the  same  freedom  he 
may  not  react  to  his  environment  as  fully  as  they  supposed  they 
reacted  to  theirs. 

(6)  That  one's  attitude  toward  reality  is  static  rather  than 
dynamic,  and  that  therefore  truth  may  be  "fixed  in  an  eternal  state" 
rather  than  subject  to  development  of  the  human  consciousness, 
deriving  its  authority  not  from  without  but  from  its  progressive 
authentication  within  the  unfolding  processes  of  experience. 

As  far  as  I  can  see  none  of  these  assumptions  is  valid,  except 
within  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  even  there  the  assumptions 
are  not  universally  recognized.  As  Protestants  we  are  co'mmitted  to 
the  alone  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  indefeasible  right 
of  private  judgment;  as  Congregationalists  we  follow  John  Robinson 
in  his  conviction  that  God  has  yet  more  truth  to  break  forth  from 
his  Word;  as  Christians  we  can  allow  no  one  to  wrest  from  us  the 
prerogative  which  we  have  received  from  Jesus  Christ,  of  being 
guided  into  all  the  truth.  And  unless  we  are  prepared  to  offer  un- 
pardonable affront  to  the  very  principle  of  our  intelligence,  we 
cannot  admit  that  the  divine  promise  is  yet  fully  realized— not  at 
the  Council  of  Nicaea,  not  at  Trent,  not  in  the  XXXIX  Articles,  not 
in   the   Westminister   Confession. 

Creed-subscription,  if  it  is  at  all  rigid  and  is  enforced,  is  on 
the  whole  detrimental  to  the  very  institutions  which  adhere  to  it.    In 


252    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

the  first  place,  it  advertizes  the  institution  as  an  anachronism,  os- 
tensibly living  in  the  present  but  anchored  to  an  outworn  past, 
afraid  to  cut  loose  and  set  sail  with  its  precious  heritage  of  faith 
into  a  yet  more  radiant  and  rationally  satisfying  future.  Again,  the 
Institution  which  smothers  free  inquiry  and  holds  ever  so  silent  a 
threat  over  the  head  of  its  instructors,  is  inviting  to  itself  the  ugly 
suspicion  of  contemporary  scholars  that  intellectual  results  ac- 
quired by  such  repressive  measures  are  untrustworthy  and  the 
teachers  themselves  insincere.  Finally,  among  the  students  of  such 
institutions  two  diametrically  opposite,  results  appear:  One  group, 
the  openminded,  the  noblest,  and  most  promising  men,  violently 
react  against  the  teaching,  especially  when  they  become  aware  of 
its  dogmatic  and  unsubstantial  basis,  and  become  thenceforth  in- 
susceptible to  such  guiding  influences  as  they  need  now  more  than 
they  will  ever  need  them  again.  The  other  group,  timid,  lacking 
self-reliance,  leaning  on  external  authority,  tend  to  become  un- 
thinking in  judgment,  narrowly  partisan,  and  if  perchance  they  are 
strong  men,  advocates  of  solidarity  of  organization,  of  strict  dogma 
In  the  pulpit  and  the  seminary  chair,  finding  a  vent  for  pent  up 
powers  in  social  activities  where  no  dogmatic  barriers  hinder,  them- 
selves perhaps  most  venturesome  in  this  field,  but  all  the  time  in- 
hospitable, to  advances  in  theological  thought.  A  seminary  may 
muzzle  or  bind  its  instructors,  but  fortunately  it  cannot  compel  the 
respect  of  students  or  of  other  institutions  either  for  itself  or  for 
its  teaching  force. 

In  my  judgment  the  only  safe  course  for  an  institution  of 
learning  is,  first  to  find  the  man  it  wants,  and  then  to  encourage 
him  in  an  untrameled  freedom  both  of  scholarly  inquiry  and  of 
formal  instruction. 

Although  Congregationalism  has  always  stood  opposed  to 
the  principle  of  compulsory  creed  subscription,  our  denomina- 
tion has  sometimes  fallen  a  victim  to  its  own  logic  in  its  de- 
mand upon  the  consciences  of  those  within  its  communion  upon 
whom  creeds  have  been  imposed.  Examples  have  not  been 
lacking  of  a  tyranny  within  the  Congi^egational  communion 
regarding  matters  of  creed  subscription  which  would  hardly 
be  tolerated  in  denominations  whose  regard  for  creeds  is  much 
higher  than  our  own.  There  has  been  a  disposition  in  our 
denomination  to  say  that  "a  man  ought  not  to  be  compelled 
to  assent  to  a  creed,  but  if  he  does  assent  he  must  believe  it 
to  the  last  line,  and  if  he  is  a  minister  he  must  preach  it.  If 
the  time  comes  when  he  cannot  conscientiously  affirm  his  be- 
lief in  every  article  of  the  creed,  he  should  get  out.    It  is  dis- 


THE   ETHICS    OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  253 

honest  for  him  to  draw  a  salaiy  on  the  basis  of  a  contract  that 
he  will  preach  a  certain  creed  and  then  not  preach  it." 

Denominations  which  adhere  to  creeds  that  are  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation  are  compelled  to  accept 
a  much  more  elastic  interpretation  than  this.  Ministers  and 
professors  of  ecclesiastical  law  within  these  communions  parae 
and  analyze  their  creeds  ^vith  great  care  and  sikill  in  order  to 
ease  the  consciences  of  those  who  find  subscription  difficult. 
The  average  Congregational  minister  who  reads  Newman's 
Tract  XC  is  likely  to  be  astounded  at  the  subtlety  of  his  argu- 
ment and  the  ingenuity  with  which  he  appears  to  show  that 
certain  sentences,  phrases,  and  words  of  the  thirty-nine  Ar- 
ticles may  truthfully  be  interpreted  as  meaning  the  precise 
reverse  of  what  the  oi-iginal  authors  of  the  creed  intended 
those  words  to  mean.  The  author  of  "The  Kernel  and  the 
Husk"  sets  forth  with  discriminating  logic  the  right  of  a 
clerg;^Tnan  to  lead  his  congregation  in  the  Athenasian  Creed 
although  himself  rejecting  it ;  and  thei  right  of  a  believer  in  a 
non-miraculous  Christianity  to  remain  a  minister  of  the 
Church  of  England.  Rev.  E.  W.  Lummis,  of  Cambridge, 
England,  in  a  recent  article  in  the  Hibbert  Journal  on  "Ver- 
acity and  Conformity ' '  takes  the  ground  that  the  words  of  the 
liturgy  of  the  Church  ai-e  not  intended  to  declare  any  per- 
sonal opinion,  and  that  it  is  a  wicked  waste  for  the  Church 
so  to  construe  her  creeds  as  that  her  most  conscientious  min- 
isters shall  be  driven  out  while  those  less  scrupulous  remain 
within. 

If  any  good  end  is  served  by  the  exclusion  of  these  men  from 
the  ministry,  let  them  remain  in  exile.  The  welfare  of  the  Church 
may  well  outweigh  much  agony  of  soul  in  individual  Christians. 
But  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  good  end  is  served  by  the  exclusion 
of  the  scrupulously  verac'ous.  while  their  less  scrupulous  fellows 
(less  scrupulous  on  this  single  point)  are  admitted.  Rather  it 
would  appear  that  the  Church  herself  must  suffer  by  the  loss  of 
some  of  the  best  and  best-equipped  minds  from  her  service.  Is 
there  any  way  of  bringing  it  about  that  a  scrupulous  verbal  ver- 
acity shall  no  longer  disqualify  for  Holy  Orders? 


254  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

It  might  be  possible  to  save  these  wasted  men  for  the  Church 
by  establishing  in  the  common  sense  of  the  Church  itself  a  convic- 
tion that  the  words  of  her  lithurgy  are  not  meant  to  declare  any 
personal  opinion,  or  to  bind  the  intellect  within  a  narrow  hedge 
of  doctrine;  that  their  whole  value  lies  in  their  appeal  to  faith, 
hope,  and  love,  those  weightier  matters,  beside  which  doctrines  and 
forms  are  idle  things.  After  all,  vei'bal  veracity  is  the  lowest 
stage  of  truth,  and  only  exists  so  long  as  words  are  interpreted  on 
their  lowest  plane,  as  vehicles  of  mere  information.  Is  religion 
concerned  with  this?  Her  interest  lies  in  wisdom,  power,  and  holi- 
ness. The  noble  lithurgy  of  the  English  Church,  rescued  from  the 
sordid  mesh  of  opinion  and  dialectic,  would  be  found  rich  in  the 
truth  of  wisdom,  which  has  inspired  all  that  is  best  in  Protestant- 
ism, and  the  truth  of  power,  which  has  lived  through  all  the  cor- 
ruptions of  Catholicism,  and  would  help  us  all,  liberal  and  ortho- 
dox, towards  the  higher  wisdom  of  holiness.  If  this  last  way  could 
be  pursued  it  would  soon  make  any  other  way  superfluous;  for  it 
would  inevitably  happen,  with  or  without  statutory  revision,  that 
jarring  and  unhelpful  phrases  would  disappear,  by  disuse,  from 
the  lithurgy,  leaving  the  rest  in  greater  beauty  and  strength.  With 
them  would  go  the  pest  of  esotericism,  some  scandal,  and  much  pain. 
Perhaps  this  mode  of  ending  the  evil,  even  if  the  time  is  not  yet 
quite  ripe  for  it,  may  soon  dawn  above  the  horizon  of  the  possible. 

A  thoughtful  article  in  the  London  Churchman,  while 
not  going  to  this  length,  protests  earnestly  against  the  Athe- 
nasian  Creed  as  "  a  veritable  wire-entanglement  of  orthodoxy, 
charged  with  the  high  power  electricity  of  the  threat  of  dam- 
nation." Protesting  mildly  against  the  extreme  elasticity  of 
conscience  of  those  who  follow  the  logic  of  Newman,  it  never- 
theless maintains  that  corporate  worship  requires  the  employ- 
ment of  fonns  which  must  not  be  understood  as  expressing 
individual  assent  at  every  point. 

It  is  not  easy  for  Congregationalists  to  give  themselves 
the  benefit  of  thesfe  elasticities;  but  it  is  a  fair  question 
whether  we  as  a  denomination  have  not  been  too  literal  in  the 
interpretation  of  such  creeds  as  we  hold.  Certainly  it  is  not 
right  that  we  should  leap  from  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire, 
or  that  beginning  with  the  highest  regard  for  spiritual 
freedom  we  should  interpret  such  creeds  as  obtain  among  us 
in  terms  that  make  for  spiritual  bondage.  With  a  great  price 
our  fathers  obtained  freedom  from  the  tyrany  of  creeds.  We, 
if  we  employ  confessions  of  faith,  should  see  to  it  that  the  form 


THE   ETHICS    OP   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  255 

of  our  subscription  to  them,  and  especially  that  the  form  of 
any  subscription  that  we  impose  upon  others,  shall  be  in  keep- 
ing with  our  traditions  of  spiritual  liberty. 

An  interesting  incident  which  seems  to  the  author  to  bear 
upon  this  principle,  was  raised  in  the  Congregational 
Conference  of  Illinois  in  1915,  by  a  memorial  from  the 
Elgin  Association,  introduced  by  the  honored  pastor  of  the 
Elgin  Church,  Rev.  Charles  L.  Morgan,  D.  D.,  in  which,  among 
other  things,  the  Conference  was  asked  to  go  on  record,  af- 
firming the  faith  of  its  members  "in  the  deity  of  Jesus,  His 
miraculous  birth.  His  miraculous  works,  and  His  miraculous 
resurrection. ' '  This  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Polity, 
of  which  committee  the  author  of  the  present  volume  is  chair- 
man, and  this  committee  in  the  Rockford  meeting  of  1915  and 
in  a  furth,er  report  at  Rogers  Park  in  1916,  reported  adversely, 
taking  the  ground  that  the  resolutions  of  the  Elgin  Association 
virtually  sought  to  impose  a  creed  on  the  State  Conference. 
To  this,  Dr.  Morgan,  a  courteous  and  able  disputant,  replied, 
and  his  address  is  printed  in  the  Minutes  of  the  State  Con- 
ference : 

Let  me  emphasize  this,  that  in  affirming  our  continued  faith  in 
the  deity  of  Jesus,  his  miraculous  birth,  worlcs  and  resurrection, 
we  are  not  malting  a  creed,  nor  are  we  imposing  any  test  whatever 
upon  any  church  or  minister  of  this  Conference.  The  Report  of  the 
Polity  Committee,  in  the  portrayal  of  these  Resolutions  as  a  "test" 
has  wholly  forgotten  Paul's  counsel  to  "fight  not  as  beating  the 
air."  The  Resolutions  offer  no  slightest  suggestion  of  a  "creed 
test."  For  one,  I  should  most  vigorously  oppose  the  establishment 
of  any  creed  test.  I  believe,  as  do  we  all,  in  the  perfect  liberty  of 
every  Church,  Association  and  Conference  to  make  its  own  creed 
statements,  so  long  as  we  remember  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the 
evangelical  bond  of  faith. 

I  believe  in  no  creedal  tests,  and  I  protest  as  strongly  as  any 
can  against  the  literal  statement  of  any  creed,  ancient  or  modern, 
becoming  the  binding  test  of  either  church  or  ministerial  fellow- 
ship. 

The  adoption  of  the  resolution  reaffirming  our  faith  in  the  deity 
of  Jesus,  in  His  miraculous  birth,  His  miraculous  works  and  His 
miraculous  resurrection  will  simply  mean  our  testimony  to  our  con- 
tinued faith  in  those  four  great  truths  which  have  been  the  very 
warp  and  woof  of  practically  every  gi-eat  Christian  creed  for  nine- 


256    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

teen  centuries.  No  one  can  truthfully  deny  this.  That  "the  Word 
became  flesh;"  that  Jesus  was  God  present  in  the  flesh,  the  right- 
ful object  of  a  worship  which,  for  any  but  God,  would  be  gross 
sacrilege;  that  this  Son  of  God  was  miraculously  born  into  this 
world;  that  He  wrought  miracles;  that  He  miraculously  rose  from 
the  dead;  why  these  are  the  monumental  facts  on  which  Chris- 
tianity has,  for  all  the  centuries,  rested.  They  are  the  facts, 
without  which,  Christianity  could  not  have  been,  and  without  which, 
as  history  has  shown,  the  power  of  the  Church  quickly  vanishes. 

That,  when,  as  a  Conference,  we  are  asked  to  reaffirm  our 
faith  in  these  great  facts,  we  should  decline  on  the  ground  that 
so  we  assent  to  "a  test"  (as  the  Committee  has  mistakenly  in- 
timated) is  to  wholly  misconceive  the  intent  of  the  Resolutions. 
Such  an  assent  establishes  no  test  whatever,  nor  is  it  so  intended. 
It  is  simply  to  vote  our  reaflirmation  of  those  great  truths.  The 
reason  presented  by  the  Polity  Committee  for  the  refusal  of  such 
assent  is  a  fallacious  one.  Indeed,  none  more  strenuously  than 
its  honored  Chairman  has  repeatedly  insisted  that  no  creed  ever 
adopted  by  our  churches  was  adopted  as  a  test.  How  much  less, 
then,  can  a  simple  vote  of  confidence  in  such  basal  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity be  a  test?  It  is  an  argument  which  evades  the!  real  issue 
and  seeks  to  avoid  the  reaffirmation  of  these  truths  by  skillful 
dialectics.  Surely  the  members  of  this  Conference  know  that 
from  twelve  to  fourteen  times,  either  directly  or  through  our  rep- 
resentatives, our  churches,  during  the  past  300  years  have  declared 
their  faith  in  creeds  already  existing  or  in  credal  statements  of 
their  own.  We  all  deny  that  any  of  these  creeds  are  "tests," 
and  yet  our  Polity  Committee  insists  that  such  a  simple  vote  of 
confidence  as  you  are  asked  to  pass  in  these,  four  fundamental 
truths  will  be  such  "a  test"  as  we  cannot  wisely  adopt.  I  think 
the  inconsistency  of  such  an  attitude  must  be  clear  to  all. 

Brethren,  for  this  Conference  to  deliberately  refuse  assent  to 
Resolutions  affirming  faith  in  these  central  truths,  would  seem 
to  me  one  of  the  most  serious  misfortunes  that  can  befall  our 
churches.  No  dust  of  rhetoric  or  casuistry  respecting  the  attitude 
of  our  churches  towards  creeds,  will  blind  the  great  membership 
of  our  churches  to  the  real  significance  of  such  a  refusal.  It  will 
say  that  the  ministers  and  laymen,  comprising  this  Conference, 
while,  in  one  breath  declaring  allegiance  to  the  faith  of  the  fathers, 
in  almost  the  same  breath  refused  assent  to  four  of  those  great 
truths  without  which  that  faith  could  never  have  had  the  slightest 
value. 

To  this  earnest  appeal,  however,  the  answer  in  the  light 
of  our  Congregational  traditions  is  plain.  The  question  is 
not  whether  the  members  of  the  Congregational  Conference 
of  Illinois  believe  or  do  not  believe  in  the  doctrines  embodied 
in  the  Elgin  Quadrilateral.  Their  refusal  to  aiffiirm  their 
faith  in  these  particular  terms  affords  no  presumption  that 


THE   ETHICS    OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  257 

they  do  not  so  believe.  Not  even  so  good  and  honored  a  man 
as  the  late  pastor  of  the  Elgin  Church  has  a  right  to  impose 
his  fomi  of  stating  these  four,  or  any  other  four,  doctrines,  on 
one  of  the  least  of  his  brethren,  much  less  upon  all  his  breth- 
ren. Not  only  has  the  Elgin  Association,  being  a  smaller  and 
constitutent  body,  no  right  to  impose  its  creed  upon  the  State 
Conference,  but  the  State  Conference,  being  larger,  and  includ- 
ing' in  its  membership  the  whole  of  the  Elgin  Association,  has 
no  right  to  impose  its  own  creed  upon  the  Elgin  Association,  or 
upon  the  Elgin  Church,  or  the  Elgin  pasitor.  A  veiy  much 
larger  principle  is  at  stake  in  any  such  matter  than  appears 
on  the  face  of  it.  The  Congregational  churches  and  their  min- 
isters stand  fast  in  the  liberality  wherewith  Christ  hath  made 
them  free,  and  their  affirmation  of  their  freedom  is  no  pre- 
sumption that  they  are  disloyal  to  any  particular  article  of 
faith,  however  stronglj^  they  may  resist  an  attempt  to  compel 
them  to  stand  and  deliver  in  terms  of  the  faith  of  some  other 
person  or  ecclesiastical  body.  So  the  Conference  decided  at 
its  meeting  in  Galesburg  in  May  1917,  when  it  declined  to  en- 
dorse the  Elgin  Memorial.  Those  who  insist  that  a  creed  must 
be  interpreted  in  its  baldest  and  most  uncompromising  form, 
and  that  those  who  accept  it  are  to  be  permitted  no  latitude  of 
interpretation,  may  profitably  consider  some  facts  which 
become  patent  as  soon  as  we  undertake  a  study  of  the 
history  of  creeds.  One  of  these  is  that  nearly  all  creeds 
represent  the  triumph  of  majority  over  a  minority.  Some 
of  them  originated  in  heated  debate  and  were  passed 
by  a  relatively  small  majority.  If  we  are  to  assume 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  granted  in  some  measure 
to  the  majority  of  the  assembly,  which  enacted  the  creed,  are 
we  wholly  to  deny  the  guidance  of  the  same  Spirit  to  those 
who  were  in  the  minority?  May  it  not  have  been  true  that 
the  majority  wrought  into  its  declaration  an  over-statement  of 
that  aspect  of  the  ti'uth  which  constituted  the  chief  message 
of  the  creed,  and  that  the  creed  would  more  nearly  have  em- 


258     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

bodied  the  whole  counsel  of  God  if  it  had  included  some  as- 
pects of  truth  which  were  vainly  urged  by  the  minority  and 
ruthlessly  voted  down?  Are  we  sure  that  we  can  honor  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  men  who  succeeded  in  getting  their  views 
enacted  in  the  creed  if  we  dishonor  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
often  equally  intelligent,  sincere  and  righteous  minority, 
which,  but  for  some  fortuitous  incident  might  have  given  to 
the  creed  a  very  different  emphasis  with  respect  to  some  of  its 
doctrine  ? 

The  promise  of  Christ  to  his  Church  is  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  to  lead  the  Church  into  all  truth ;  that  promise  must 
never  be  restricted  in  such  fashion  as  to  imply  a  monopoly  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  by  any  particular  gi'oup.  Sabatier  in  his 
notable  work,  ' '  Religions  of  Authority, ' '  sets  forth  in  earnest 
and  truthful  terms  the  amplitude  of  this  promise,  and  the  in- 
evitable evil  that  has  resulted  from  the  many  limitations  which 
from  time  to  time  have  been  put  upon  it. 

Jesus  Christ  promised  his  disciples  the  help  and  guidance  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  in  all  circumstances,  for  all  their  needs,  and  in  all 
that  they  should  have  to  do  or  suffer,  but  inj  no  sense  to  constitute 
a  new  Scriptural  code  to  which  Christians  would  thenceforth  be 
forever  enslaved.  How,  then,  came  it  to  pass  that  the  Church 
learned  to  distrust  the  Master's  promise,  and  hastened  to  build  up 
again  that  which  he  destroyed — the  absolute  authority  of  the  so- 
called  divine  lettej-? 

The  Church  was  Incredulous,  and  It  still  is  so  as  regards  the 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  She  has  limited  inspiration  to  bishops, 
the  hierarchy,  the  Pope,  or  else  to  the  authors  whose  writings  are 
collected  between  the  covers  of  the  New  Testament,  and  has  denied 
it  to  ordinary  Christians;  and  for  them  she  has  created  a  new 
authority,  thus  depriving  them  of  the  liberty  which  Christ  conquered 
for  every  son  of  the  Father. 

The  dogma  which  made  the  Holy  Spirit  a  metaphysical  entity 
paralyzed  and  killed  his  dynamic  influence  in  the  Christian  life. 
In  the,  Old  Testament  and  the  New  the  Spirit  represented  the  divine 
principle  in  the  human  soul,  the  imminent  influence  of  the  living 
God.  Elevated  into  the  empyrean  of  the  Trinity  it  has  become  tran- 
scendent, not  less  apart  from  the  world  than  the  two  other  divine 
persons,  and  thus  it  too  has  need  of  a  mediating  organ  by  which  to 
be  revealed  and  made  active ;  it  has  become  incarnate  and  therefore 
localized  either  in  the  Catholic  hierarchy  or  in  the  code,  of  Scrip- 
ture. Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  thought  or  promise  of 
Jesus. — Sabatier:  "Religions  of  Authority,"  p.  299. 


THE   ETHICS    OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  259 

The  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  not  to  the 
apostles  but  to  the  whole  Church.  The  cloven  firey  tongues 
sat  not  upon  the  apostolic  twelve  alone  but  upon  the  whole 
company,  men  and  women,  numbering  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  The  promise  was  not  for  the  clergy  alone ;  it  belonged 
and  still  belongs  to  the  laity  as  well.  The  promise  was  not  for 
that  age  only,  but  was  for  every  age.  The  promise  was  not  for 
majorities  alone,  but  belongs  also  in  their  due  measure  to 
minorities.  If  we  are  to  assume,  as  we  ought  to  assume,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  granted  to  Augustine,  in  his  stout  defense 
of  what  in  his  day  was  accounted  to  be  orthodoxy,  we  are 
justified  also  in  believing  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  in 
some  measure  to  tlie  men  whom  he  opposed,  some  of  whom  were 
hardly  inferior  to  him  in  character,  scholarship  and  piety,  emi- 
nent as  Augustine  was  in  all  these  particulars.  If  we  are  to 
assume,  as  we  may  and  probably  should,  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
Avas  present  in  the  council  of  Nicea,  which  in  325  A.  D.,  with 
great  unanimity  condemned  Arius  and  his  heresies,  how  can 
we  deny  the  presence  of  that  same  Spirit  in  the  Synods  of 
Tyre  and  Jerusalem  ten  years  later,  approving  the  teachings 
of  Arius  as  being  soundly  orthodox  ?  If  we  are  to  ascribe  to 
Calvin  a  large  measure  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  his  admirable 
defense  of  the  sovereignity  of  God,  how  can  we  deny  a 
measure  of  the  same  Spirit  to  Socinus,  who  in  spite  of  bitter 
persecution  proclaimed  with  equal  circumspection  and  courage 
the  truths  which  were  needed  to  balance  the  teachings  of 
Calvin,  but  which  in  that  age  could  only  be  regarded  as 
destructive  of  fundamental  truth  and  utterly  irreconcilable 
with  doctrines  necessary  to  salvation?  How  can  we  ever  be 
safe  in  affirming  a  creed  that  is  essentially  Calvinistic  without 
leaving  mental  room  for  those  enlargements  and  counterbal- 
ancing considerations  which  the  Holy  Spirit  still  Avorldng  in 
the  church  now  shows  to  have  been  lacking  in  the  particular 
system,  which,  rather  fortunately  on  the  whole,  were  able  to 
get  themselves  wrought  into  creeds,  but  always  at  some  ex- 
pense of  truth  ignored,  suppressed,  or  denied? 


260  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  only  to  those  who 
are  intellectually  right;  it  is  also  to  those  who  are  wrong  in 
their  thinking  but  right  in  their  faith.  Some  of  the  best  gifts 
of  the  Spirit  have  come  through  human  errors  that  led  to 
larger  truths.  God,  who  makes  even  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Him,  makes  also  the  eiTors  of  good  men  sometimes  to  be 
productive  of  good.  It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  many  of 
our  mistakes  of  judgment  do  less  harm  than  logically  they 
ought  to  do.  If  the  Holy  Spirit  were  granted  only  toi  those 
who  understand  all  truth,  the  Spirit  still  would  be  reserved 
for  some  long  distant  future.  But  the  Spirit  is  given  to  men 
now  much  in  error,  leading  them  progressively  into  a  slightly 
larger  measure  of  truth,  as  they  are  able  to  bear  it. 

When  men  affirm,  as  they  sometimes  do  affinn,  that  a 
creed  must  never  be  uttered  with  mental  reservation,  the 
answer  is  that  no  human  creed  can  ever  be  uttered  in  any 
other  way.  There  must  always  be  a  reservation  for  the  ti-uth 
which  the  creed  could  not  contain  and  which  it  may  have  been 
framed  expressly  to  deny. 

]\Iost  creeds  have  risen  out  of  religious  controversy,  in 
which  one  side  or  the  other  has  triumphed  by  a  somewhat 
narrow  margin.  The  Nicene  Creed  is  supposed  to  have  grown 
out  of  the  controversy,  which  banished  Anus.  The  Council  of 
Nicea  drove  him  forth,  but  it  was  not  long  before  a  reaction 
set  in  and  Arius  was  invited  to  return.  Great  preparation 
was  made  to  receive  him  back  at  court.  Constantinople  was 
assembled  in  all  pomp  and  circumstance  with  the  emperor  and 
bishops  and  the  officials  of  church  and  state  when  Arius  sud- 
denly died.  In  his  death  some  people  saw  the  treacherous  act 
of  his  enemies,  and  others  a  mark  of  Divine  approval,  sealing 
with  the  high  honors'  of  heaven  the  recognition  which  the 
church  on  earth  at  last  had  given  to  the  truth.  Now  the  spirit 
which  drove  Arius  forth  into  exile  managed  to  get  itself 
written  intot  a  creed ;  and  if  Arius  had  lived  to  establish  him- 
self in  power  in  Constantinople,  the  theories  which  he  held 


THE   ETHICS   OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  261 

would  very  likely  have  gotten  themselves  into  another  creed, 
issued  by  a  council  of  (luite  as  high  authority  and  composed  in 
good  part  of  the  same  people.  Who  knows  whether  the  un- 
written creed  of  Arius  would  have  been  more  hetereodox  in 
its  way  than  the  creed  of  his  enemies  was  in  their  way  ?  Who 
knows  at  what  precise  moment  in  the  process  of  shifting  major- 
ities the  vote  must  be  taken  that  is  to  embody  the  bitterness 
and  dogmatism  of  an  unholy  fight  into  an  authoritative  creed 
which  all  Christians  must  thereafter  profess  on  pain  of  eternal 
damnation  1 

The  Apostles'  Creed  was  not  written  by  the  apostles,  nor 
the  Nicene  Creed  by  the  Council  of  Nicea,  nor  the  Athanasian 
Creed  by  Athenasius,  and  no  one  of  them  is  either  perfect  or 
final. 

Nearly  all  creeds  are  compromises.  Even  when  they  rep- 
resent the  triumph  of  a  majority  over  a  minority  there  had  to 
be  no  little  trimming  and  fitting  to  make  the  creed  acceptable 
to  the  majority.  Among  the  company  of  those  Avho  came  at 
length  to  a  sufficient  unanimity  to  agree  upon  a  creed  there 
existed  a  considerable  variety  of  opinion.  It  is  reasonable  to 
assume  that  some  approach  to  unity  was  reached  in  the  process 
of  discussion,  but  it  is  also  tnie  that  a  considerable  part  of  that 
unity  was  due  to  the  selection  of  a  sufficiently  elastic  and 
ambiguous  phraseology'  to  enable  all  the  various  parties  that 
came  to  an  ultimate  agreement  to  read  their  own  meanings  into 
the  words  of  the  creed.  It  is  a  fair  question  ,and  one  not  to  be 
answered  by  an  appeal  to  the  dictionary,  w^hether  a  creed 
which  came  into  being  by  the  veiy  reason  of  its  being  elastic 
must  now  be  interpreted  with  no  elasticity.  Let  us  assume, 
for  example,  that  some  council  of  the  early  Church  composed 
of  five  hundred  members  had  in,  it  two  hundred  who  held  a 
doctrine  which  we  may  call  A,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
another  doctrine  which  we  may  call  B,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  a  doctrine  which  we  may  call  C.  B  and  C  were 
able  at  length  to  agree  upon  a  form  of  words  which  we  will 


262    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

call  D,  as  sufficiently  inclusive  to  express  what  each  of  those 
two  factions  counted  most  vital  in  B  and  C.  Bj^  this  process 
a  majority  of  the  council  was  obtained  and  the  creed  A  was 
voted  down  by  the  advocates  of  the  creed  D.  Now,  it  is  not 
only  conceivable  that  A  and  B  might  have  found  like  common 
ground  and  also  a  working  majority  in  another  creed  E ;  or 
A  and  C  might  have  attained  a  different  result  in  another 
creed  F.  But  what  is  more  important  for  us  is  that  there 
are  living  men  whose  interpretation  of  the  truths  of  Chrisftian 
experience  would  lead  them  independently  to  express  their 
faith  in  terms  of  G,  H  and  I,  but  who  have  inherited  a  ritual, 
or  creedal  declaration  in  terms  of  D.  Are  they  to  be  denied 
such  liberty  as  B  and  C  secured  in  the  formulation  of  D? 
Manifestly  not.  A  creed  which  owes  its  adoption  to  its  vague- 
ness and  ambiguity  at  the  time  when  it  was  formulated  is  not 
to  be  forced  upon  men  of  another  generation  as  though  it  were 
capable  of  one  and  only  one  interpretation. 

No  man  can  fonnulate  a  creed  which  completely  records 
his  own  inmost  convictions,  much  less  can  any  man  fonnulate 
the  truth  of  his  own  convictions  in  terms  which  completely 
satisfy  the  mental  and  spiritual  requirements  of  any  other 
man.    President  Henry  Churchill  King  has  well  said : 

Complete  uniformity  of  belief  and  statement  is  impossible,  In  the 
first  place,  because  it  is  difficult  indeed  for  any  of  us  to  tell  our  real 
inner  creed.  That  creed  is  the  creed  that  finds  expression  in  life. 
It  is  the  statement  of  those  assumptions  that  are  implied  in  deeds 
and  spirit.  The  will,  thus,  has  its  creed  as  well  as  the  intellect,  and 
the  truths  of  religion  must  be  wrought  out  rather  than  merely 
thought  out.  And  the  intellect  can  formulate  only  very  imperfectly 
the  truth  that  the  will  has  wrought  out.  How  comparatively  empty 
and  fiat  the  greatest  truths  sound  from  one  who  does  not  seem  to 
have  lived  them  into  existence.  On  the  other  hand,  how  significant 
the  simplest  truths  become  when  they  are  backed  by  a  great  life. 
Now  the  truth  which  so  lives  for  a  man  is  his  real  creed,  and  that 
real  creed  he  can  better  state  at  the  end  of  his  complete  experience 
than  at  the  beginning.  It  is  still  more  impossible  for  another's 
formulation  completely  to  shadow  forth  this  whole  life-experience. 
This  is  not  at  all  to  join  the  company  of  those  who  wish  to  "rule  the 
doctrinal  element  out  of  their  religion."  It  is  quite  a  different  thing 
from  that,  to  insist  that  only  the  whole  mind  can  reach  the  essential 


THE   ETHICS   OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  203 

meaning  of  things;  that  all  Christian  doctrine  looks  directly  to  life, 
means  something  for  life  and  grows  directly  out  of  life;  that  no 
series  of  propositions  can  possibly  set  forth  the  whole  meaning  of 
the  Christian  life;  and  that  the  acceptance,  of  any  set  of  propositions 
is  not  the  acceptance  of  Christianity.  Thinking  there  must  be,  ear- 
nest and  hard,  and  every  possible  attempt  to  express  the  fullest 
results  of  this  thinking  in  ordered  statement  of  doctrine — to  reach 
a  comprehensive  intellectual  unity  that  shall  bring  our  religious 
beliefs  into  relation  to  all  the  rest  of  our  thinking.  All  this  is 
highly  important  and  helpful.  But  even  so,  doctrine  is  means,  not 
end;  an  expression  of  life  rather  than  life  itself.  The  intellect 
serves  life  but  may  not  dominate  it. 

Complete  uniformity  of  belief  and  statement  therefore  is  im- 
possible, first  of  all,  because  we  are  none  of  us  really  able  to  make 
an  accurate  statement  even  of  our  own  creed.  It  is  impossible  also 
because  if  two  persons  should  agree  in  adopting  the  same  formula 
of  words,  even  these  same  words  must  be  interpreted  out  of  different 
inheritances,  training,  environment  and  experiences,  and  the  em- 
phasis and  meaning  will  change  accordingly;  and  they  will  change 
even  in  the  same  individual  from  time  to  time.  Unalterable  doctrine 
is  thus  impossible.  Any  true  acceptance  of  a  creed  involves  every 
time  a  kind  of  creative  activity  on  the  part  of  the  individual  affirm- 
ing the,  confession.  This  means  that  the  different  temperament,  the 
different  point  of  view  and  the  different  emphasis  cannot  help  affect- 
ing every  man's  creed.  It  is  true  of  a  man's  creed  as  of  his  environ- 
ment that  the  only  effective  portions  are  those  to  which  he  attends; 
and  the  points  of  attention  vary  from  time  to  time. 

But  it  is  not  only  true  that  complete  uniformity  of  belief  and 
statement  is  impossible,  it  is  equally  true  that  were  it  attainable,  it 
would  be  undesirable.  We  are  dealing  with  those  truths  that  have 
to  do  with  the  infinite  God  himself,  and  with  human  relations  to  that 
infinite  God.  We  can  only  approximate  to  the  infinite  truth  so 
sought  by  seeking  from  every  soul  the  most  honest  expression  of  his 
experience  and  so  sharing  our  experiences  with  each  other.  The 
situation  is  like  that  illustrated  by  Leibnitz's  figure  of  the  mirrors 
surrounding  the  market-place.  Each  mirror  gives  its  reflection 
from  one  point  of  view,  and  it  is  only  by  combining  all  these  reflec- 
tions that  the  complete  view  of  all  the  aspects  of  the  market-place 
could  result.  We  need  indispensably  the  supplementing  help  that 
comes  from  sharing  in  the  best  visions  of  other  souls. — "The  Confes- 
sion of  Christ,"  in  Constructive  Quarterly,  ii,  258-260. 

Creeds  require  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  their  his- 
tory. The  technical  expressions  which  they  contain  cannot  be 
accurately  interpreted  apart  from  the  meaning'  which  they 
acquired  in  the  discussions  in  which  they  originated.  Often  a 
study  of  the  history  out  of  which  a  creed  emerged  gives  to  the 
student  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  document  in  its  relation  to 


264    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

history,  while  emphasizing  anew  the  caution  with  which  they 
are  to  be  accepted  as  an  expression  of  the  faith  of  a  modern 
Christian.  Prof.  William  A.  Curtis,  of  the  University  of  Aber- 
deen, in  an  appreciative  article  concerning  creeds,  spoke  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  in  favor  of  a  reason- 
able measure  of  liberty  in  their  interpretation. 

It  follows  that  as  documents  of  history  they  must  be  historically 
studied  and  understood.  They  are  full  of  technical  terms,  of  clauses 
which  to  the  scholar  call  up  the  memory  of  definite  controversies, 
of  phrases  which  betray  their  locality  and  school  of  opinion.  Like 
the  Apostles'  Creed  itself,  they  are  monuments  of  well-weighed 
compromise  and  deliberate  compilation.  Like  the  Bible  itself,  they 
reflect  the  light  of  divine  truth  streaming  from  many  minds.  To 
accept  them  with  unquestioning  literalness  is  to  accept  them  unin- 
telligently  and  to  do  them  dishonour.  Place  yourself  at  the  stand- 
point of  their  framers  and  their  age,  allow  for  the  fashion  of  their 
thought  as  you  would  allow  for  the  idiom  and  vocabulary  of  their 
language,  bear  in  mind  the  things  they  did  not  know,  the  history 
they  had  not  read,  the  questions  they  had  not  raised  and  faced,  the 
experience  they  had  not  enjoyed,  the  scholarship  beyond  their  reach, 
and  you  will  not  do  them  the  injustice  of  making  them  oracles  for 
all  time,  or  representing  that  their  sceptre  and  their  nod  can  arrest 
the  tide  of  divine  revelation  and  of  human  science.  To  know  their 
origin  and  their  historical  setting  is  certainly  to  be  in  a  position 
to  judge  them  critically,  and  to  have  their  oracular  mysteriousness 
dispelled,  but  it  is  also  to  have  one's  imagination  stirred  and  one's 
sympathy  aroused.  I  can  scarcely  think  of  one  of  them  which  close 
historical  acquaintance  has  not  thus  transformed  for  me. — The 
Hibbert  Journal,  xii,  p.  320. 

It  is  always  to  be  remembered  in  the  interpretation  of 
creeds  that  he  who  subscribes  to  a  creed  owes  something  to  the 
future  as  well  as  to  the  past.  Is  the  man  of  to-day  to  be 
stopped  from  thinking  in  terms  of  his  own  day  because  his 
faith  has  been  expressed  for  him  in  a  creed  either  of  the 
fourth  or  of  the  sixteenth  century?  How  came  that  creed  of 
the  fourth  century  to  be  written,  seeing  there  were  already  in 
existence  creeds  from  an  earlier  century  ?  Manifestly  because 
the  men  of  the  fourth  century  had  courage  to  confess  their 
faith  in  terms  of  the  thought  of  the  fourth  century.  How 
came  it  that  with  creeds  of  the  fourth  and  succeeding  centuries 
in  their  possession,  the  men  of  the  sixteenth  century  had 


THE   ETHICS   OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  265 

courage  to  make  new  creeds!  How  shall  a  man  be  loyal  to 
those  very  creeds  if  he  does  not  have  at  least  as  much  courage 
as  the  makers  of  them  ? 

Clearly  it  is  a  great  advantage  to  a  Cliurch  to  have  a  common 
body  of  doctrine,  greater  even  than  a  common  mode  of  worship  or 
organization,  and  it  is  a  sacred  duty  to  profess  as  much  of  the  truth 
as  common  conviction  will  allow.  Church  and  congregation,  more- 
over, are  entitled  to  receive  some  guarantee  that  the  pastor  of  souls 
will  teach  the  truth  accredited,  adequately  and  loyally.  Confessions 
accepted  or  subscribed  are  meant  to  serve  both  ends.  Broadly 
speaking,  they  have  done  so  reasonably  well,  and  they  deserve  our 
deepest  gratitude.  But  to  use  or  enforce,  them  legally  in  a  hard  and 
fast  way  is  unchristian  and  unwise.  The  Church  does  not  exist  for 
the  Confession,  however  venerable,  but  the  Confession  for  the 
Church.  The  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  the  special  pleader  of 
a  particular  theology,  retained  for  a*  fee.  The  right  to  formulate 
the  doctrinal  content  of  faith  is  the  prerogative  and  monopoly  of  no 
single  age  or  generation,  however  confident  of  itself,  and  however 
competent.  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  however  great,  but  of 
the  living;  and  His  Truth,  though  it  is  eternal,  is  not  stationary.  If 
Faith  has  hands  with  which  to  cling,  it  has  also  feet  with  which  to 
move  forward.  It  would  be  well  if  we,  who  honor  our  ancient 
formularies,  and  resent  the  slightest  invasion  of  their  sacrosanctity, 
showed  a  little  more  confidence  in  their  ability  to  bear  handling  and 
comparison.  If  better  articles  of  faith  were  offered  to  us  than  we 
possess  traditionally,  would  it  not  be  our  religious  duty  to  accept 
them?  Have  we  learned  nothing  and  unlearned  nothing  worth  re- 
cording since  the  Assemblies  of  Dordrecht  and  Westminster?  It  is 
natural  for  men  who  love  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant  to  stretch  out 
impulsive  hands  to  steady  it  as  the  wheels  of  the  wagon  lurch  in 
the  ruts  of  the  rough  highway  of  experience,  but  there  is  a  fear  on 
its  behalf  that  is  ungodly  as  well  as  unmanly.  The  same  solemn 
and  indeed  overwhelming  responsibility  which  rested  on  our  fathers 
in  the  Reformation  to  purify  their  testimony  to  God's  Truth  rests 
also  on  their  sons  in  every  succeeding  age.  "VSTien  men  to-day  rail 
at  our  standards,  not  always  by  any  means  without  cause  or  in  dis- 
loyalty, they  may  fairly  be  asked  to  show  us  a  better  for  all  pur- 
poses and  for  all  orders  of  mind,  and  we  may  fairly  be  asked  to 
preserve  an  open  mind  for  its  reception  when  it  is  produced.  For 
my  part,  as  an  Assembly  juryman  in  any  case  of  doctrinal  disci- 
pline, I  would  refuse  to  take  a  merely  legal  view  of  any  oflSice- 
bearer's  departure  from  our  standards.  I  would  feel  bound  to  ac- 
knowledge that  every  minister  has  a  constituent  share  of  his  own 
in  the  admitted  right  of  that  Court  of  which  he  is  a  member  to  move 
in  doctrine  at  the  bidding  of  science  or  of  conscience  or  of  the 
Divine  Spirit.  I  think  it  is  idle  and  sophistical  to  say  that  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  must  enact  permission  before  the  individual  may 
preach  new  ideas,  for  the  Assembly  is  but  a  court  of  individuals,  and 
its  movement  and  initiative  are  necessarily  slower  and  later  than 


266    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

theirs.  The  universal  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  sacred  duty  of 
missions  to  the  heathen  are  credenda  which  many  of  our  Churches 
have  never  yet  authorized  by  statute  or  confession,  yet,  God  be 
thanked,  we  have  long  since  been  guided  and  constrained  by  a 
higher  voice  than  ecclesiastical  enactment  to  proclaim  them.  It 
is  thus,  I  submit,  impossible  and  unchristian  to  interpret  our 
standards  in  a  narrow  legal  fashion.  We  would  not  do  it  with 
Scripture;  we  dare  not  do  it  with  them.  With  the  memory  of  what 
legalism  did  in  the  Gospel  narrative,  in  the  unreformed  Church,  and 
in  the  Protestant  Churches  during  the  seventeenth  century,  we  have 
little  excuse  for  relapsing  into  it  again. 

But,  you  say,  may  a  minister  of  religion  preach  as  he  pleases 
with  impunity?  I  answer  only  that  disloyalty  is  not  to  be  judged 
by  narrow  rules.  We  must  be  consistent  and  we  must  be  fair. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  disloyalty  to  the  present  and  to  the  future 
to  be,  kept  in  view.  The  letter  of  ancient  standards  even  a  lawyer 
will,  if  he  can,  interpret  historically,  in  the  light  of  the  conditions  of 
their  age  and  the  intentions  of  their  framers.  Even  a  lawyer,  too, 
will  take  into  account  the  effect  of  divergent  use  and  wont  in  sub- 
sequent generations  as  modifying  their  force  when  employed  as 
documents  forming  the  basis  of  a  contract  of  professional  service. 
To  subscribe  an  ancient  Confession,  itself  originally  framed  by 
majority  findings  and  through  innumerable  compromises  in  debate, 
itself  also  interpreted  in  our  own  time  by  different  schools  of  opinion 
and  types  of  scholarship,  is  obviously  anything  but  a  simple  act.  It 
implies,  of  course,  a  solemn  compact  and  pledge  of  loyalty  to  the 
past,  and  of  loyalty  to  the  living  Church,  but  it  involves  no  less  an 
obligation  to  the  Church's  living  Head  and  His  indwelling  Spirit. 
It  seems  to  me — and  I  write  under  a  profound  sense  of  the  gravity 
of  the  practical  issue — that  no  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  has 
any  right  to  foreclose,  irrevocably  or  irreformably,  once  for  all,  the 
form  of  its  doctrinal  testimony.  Every  Church,  if  it  has  eyes  for 
the  lessons  of  history  since  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation,  ought  to 
hold  its  property  and  administer  its  discipline  on  the  explicit  under- 
standing that  its  hand  is  free  from  age  to  age  to  write  afresh  the 
sentences  which  utter  its  living  belief  in  the  living  God.  The  Church 
needs  freemen,  not  slaves,  for  its  ministry.  Even  the  world,  though 
it  delights  in  opinions  that  are  dogmatic,  and  dearly  loves  "plain 
answers"  to  ugly  questions,  is  not  enamoured  of  men  who  proclaim 
the  glorious  liberty  of  the  Gospel  while  themselves  in  confessional 
shackles.  Of  course,  there  is  risk  as  well  as  dignityt  in  freedom. 
Every  employer  and  every  offerer  of  free  labour  knows  that.  But 
is  it  for  that  reason  better  to  go  back  to  slavery?  Select  your  men, 
train  your  men,  trust  your  men,  as  your  Master  did.  Run  openly 
the  risk  of  finding  one  man  in  twelve  a  traitor,  as  He  did,  and  each 
of  twelve  slow  of  heart  and  mind.  For  after  all  no  articles  of  in- 
denture, however  strict,  can  possibly  guarantee  the  future  fidelity 
and  competence  of  the  employed.  He  is  a  blind  reader  of  Church 
history  who  does  not  know  that  Articles  of  Faith  are  powerless  to 
preserve  intellectual  uniformity.  The  Presbyterian  Churches  in  the 
eighteenth  century  were  anything  but  faithful  to  their  standards; 


THE   ETHICS   OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  267 

yet  they  did  not  make  a  single  formal  change  in  them,  deeming  it 
apparently  not  worth  their  while.  There  is  a  better  way,  a  surer 
guarantee.  In  his  "Arians  of  the  Fourth  Century,"  John  Henry 
Newman,  who  will  not  be  credited  with  indifference  to  any  lawful 
means  of  securing  doctrinal  conformity  and  identity,  makes  a  mem- 
orable admission  concerning  what  he  calls  "that  novel  though  nec- 
essary measure  of  imposing  an  authoritative  creed  on  those  whom 
the  Church  invested  with  the  office  of  teaching."  He  says:  "If  I 
avow  my  belief  that  freedom  from  symbols  and  articles  is  abstract- 
edly the  highest  state  of  Christian  communion,  and  the  peculiar 
privilege  of  the  primitive  Church,  it  is  not  from  any  tenderness 
towards  that  proud  impatience  of  control  in  which  many  exult  as 
in  a  virtue,  but  first,  because  technicality  and  formalism  are,  in 
their  degree,  inevitable  results  of  public  confessions  of  faith;  and 
next,  because,  where  confessions  do  not  exist,  the  mysteries  of 
Divine  truth,  instead  of  being  exposed  to  the  gaze  of  the  profane  and 
uninstructed,  are  kept  hidden  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  far'  more 
faithfully  than  is  otherwise  possible,  and  reserved,  by  a  private 
teaching  through  the  channel  of  her  ministers,  as  rewards  in  due 
measure  and  season  for  those  who  are  prepared  to  profit  by  them — 
for  those,  that  is,  who  are  diligently  passing  through  the  successive 
stages  of  faith  and  obedience. — Prof.  W.  A.  Curtis,  of  Aberdeen,  In 
Hibbert  Journal,  xii,  327-330. 

The  principle  that  a  teacher  or  a  preacher  is  a  discoverer 
of  truth  and  must  be  free  to  discover  it  has  been  ably  set 
forth  by  Dean  John  H.  Wigmore  of  the  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity School  of  Law  in  an  article  in  Tlie  Nation  on  "Academic 
Freedom"  in  which  he  draws  an  important  analogy  from  the 
principle  of  judicial  immunity.  That  principle  rooted  in  three 
centuries  of  English  and  American  decisions  is  that  a  superior 
or  supreme  judge  is  not  liable  to  civil  action  on  any  ground 
whatever  for  a  wrong  done  by  him  while  acting  as  a  judge  on 
matters  within  his  own  jurisdiction.  The  protection  granted 
him  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  judicial  function  is  so  full  as 
to  seem  extreme.  As  applied  in  the  courts  it  freely  assumes 
that  the  judge  is  human  and  fallible,  liable  to  prejudice  and 
every  other  human  failing,  but  it  holds  that  it  is  impossible 
adequately  to  protect  the  righteous  judge  without  granting 
immunity  also  to  the  ignorant,  the  biased,  the  prejudiced 
judge.  Mr.  Justice  Field  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
enunciated  this  principle  in  the  case  of  Bradley  vs.  Fisher 
(13  Wallace,  336;  1871). 


268     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

If  civil  actions  could  be  maintained  in  such  cases  against  the 
judge,  because  the  losing  party  should  see  fit  to  allege  in  his  com- 
plaint that  the  acts  of  the  judge  were  done  with  part'iality.  or 
maliciously,  or  corruptly,  the  protection  essential  to  judicial  in- 
dependence would  be  entirely  swept  away.  Few  persons,  sufficiently 
irritated  to  institute  an  action  against  a  judge  for  his  judicial  acts, 
would  hesitate  to  ascribe  any  character  to  the  acts  which  would  be 
essential  to  the  maintenance  of  an  action.  If  upon  such  allegations 
a  judge  could  be  compelled  to  answer  in  a  civil  action  for  his 
judicial  acts,  ...  he  would  be  subjected  for  his  protection  to  the 
necessity  of  .  .  .  showing  the  judge  before  whom  he  might  be  sum- 
moned by  the  losing  party  .  .  .  that  he  had  decided  as  he  did  with 
judicial  integrity.  And  the  second  judge  would  be  subjected  to  a 
similar  burden  in  his  turn. 

In  other  words,  says  Dean  Wigmore,  were  the  rule  otherwise, 
for  the  sake  of  reaching  the  one  judge  in  a  hundred  who  might  act 
corruptly  or  maliciously,  then  the  ninety-and-nine  honest  and  com- 
petent judges  would  be  likely  to  be  harassed  continually  by  com- 
plainants alleging  this  malice  or  corruptness  as  a  nominal  pretext 
for  their  claim.  And  the  profound  ill-consequence  is  obvious.  The 
honest  judge's  peace  of  mind  would  be  gone. 

The  analogy  is  plain.  The  object  of  academic  immunity  is  the 
protection  of  the  competent  thinker  in  that  unhampered  research 
and  discussion  wh'ch  alone  leads  to  the  discovery  of  scien- 
tific truth.  But  the  protection  cannot  be  limited  to  the 
competent  thinker.  It  must  extend  to  all  academic  scholars, 
including  the  incompetent,  the  extremists,  the  radicals,  the 
temperamentally  biased,  and  the  tactless.  For  otherwise  it  is 
easy  enough  to  find  the  charge  brought  that  the  particular  supposed 
offender  is  incompetent,  or  tactless,  or  what-ever  else  it  is  that  falls 
outside  the  line  of  protection.  His  case  is  precisely  like  that  of  the 
judge  in  this  respect.  The  offended  party — be  he  trustee,  regent, 
editor,  ecclesiastic,  parent,  or  man  in  the  street — is  always  likely 
to  allege  that  the  doctrine  advanced  by  the  academic  incumbent,  or 
the  manner  of  advancing  it,  is  such  as  reveals  plainly  the  academic 
man's  incompetence  to  be  a  professor  of  true  sciejice  or  a  safe 
guide  of  youth.  And,  in  fact,  almost  all  of  the  instances  publicly 
discussed  do  exhibit  precisely  that  feature.  The  parallel  is  almost 
amusingly  exact.  Citations  are  needless ;  read  any  of  the  documents 
recently  published  in  any  of  the  instances. 

If  we  do  not  appreciate  this  aspect  of  the  problem,  we  are  in 
danger  of  ignoring  entirely  the  real  basis  for  defending  academic 
freedom.  That  basis  is  that  it  is  impossible  to  protect  the  competent 
scholar,  who  by  general  concession  merits  protection  both  in  the 
substance  and  in  the  form  of  his  utterances,  without  also  protecting 
the  incompetent  one,  who  in  himself  alone  might  be  said  not  to 
merit  protection;  because,  if  a  line  of  definition  be  attempted,  tihe 
offended  party  will  always  believe  and  allege  that  the  supposed 
offender  falls  outside  that  line,  and  thus  the  whole  class  of  compe- 
tent men  will  always  be  hampered  in  their  research  and  their  ut- 
terances by  the  likelihood  of  being  required  to  defend  themselves 
against  this  allegation. 


THE   ETHICS    OF   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  269 

The  question  of  academic  freedom  and  of  freedom  in  the 
pulpit  is  far  more  complex  than  those  suppose  who  assume  that 
a  minister  or  a  professor  is  a  hired  man  employed  to  teach  a 
fixed  system  of  fully  discovered  truth.  There  is  no  such  sys- 
tem either  in  the  Bible  or  out  of  it.  Much  less  does  any  creed 
contain  such  a  system.  The  final  interviews  of  Jesus  with  his 
disciples  thrill  with  the  spirit  of  truth  yet  to  be  revealed. 
He  taught  them  so  much  of  the  truth  as  they  were  able  to 
bear  and  promised  them  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  to  lead 
them  into  all  truth.  That  promise  was  not  limited  to  that  or 
any  succeeding  age.  If  the  Spirit  ever  undertook  a  work  of 
interpretation  and  of  continuation  in  the  application  of  the 
principles  of  Jesus  to  the  later  life  of  the  church  that  guid- 
ance must  continue  as  long  as  the  need  continues.  Not  yet 
certainly  has  the  need  of  guidance  ceased.  The  truth  which 
Jesus  taught  has  often  been  spoken  of  as  a  deposit  to  be  sacred- 
ly guarded ;  and  the  figure  has  a  certain  force  and  authority ; 
but  it  is  the  deposit  of  a  seed,  a  living  grov/ing  entity.  The 
preacher  is  more  than  the  consei'vator  of  a  system  of  truth  em- 
bodied in  a  confession  of  faith.  He  is  a  revealer  of  truth.  It 
is  his  duty  having  ears  to  hear  what  now  the  Spirit  saith  unto 
the  churches. 

A  layman,  accustomed  to  the  "hiring  and  firing"  of  his 
employesi  on  the  sole  basis  of  his  own  likes  or  dislikes,  or  of 
their  supposed  value  in  promoting  the  interests  of  his  business, 
is  sometimes  prone  to  apply  the  standards  of  the  office  and  the 
shop  to  the  minister  and  to  say, ' '  Our  church  has  a  creed  which 
satisfies  us ;  let  the  minister  preach  it  or  let  him  go.  We  are 
not  interested  in  any  new  revelations  he  may  suppose  himself 
to  possess.  We  do  not  care  to  discuss  with  him  whether  our 
creed  is  true  or  not.    There  it  is ;  let  him  take  it  or  leave  it. ' ' 

Laymen  have  talked  after  this  fashion,  and  it  was  lan- 
guage most  unbecoming  in  any  man  professing  to  be  a  sei^vant 
of  Christ,  and  is  based  on  an  idea  thoroughly  dishonoring  to 
the  ministry.    The  minister  of  the  gospel  is  no  man 's  servant ; 


270    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

he  is  not  anybody's  hired  man.  It  is  nobody's  privilege  to 
hire  him  and  fire  him  for  doing  or  not  doing  what  some  ar- 
rogant contributor  to  the  church  thinks  he  ought  or  ought  not 
to  do.  The  minister  is  a  prophet  of  God,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
discover  in  all  the  ways  he  may,  what  the  Lord  would  reveal 
to  the  people  of  his  church.  A  part  of  that  truth  previously 
discovered  is  embodied  in  very  faulty  forms  of  expression  in 
the  church  creed.  It  is  not  a  finality.  No  one  has  a  right  to 
assume  that  it  is  a  finality.  The  church  ought  to  expect  to 
outgrow  it,  and  no  one  is  presumably  so  competent  to  discover 
when  it  may  be  outgrown  as  the  man  who  has  been  called  of 
God  and  the  church  to  be  a  proclaimer  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
in  terms  of  his  own  generation. 

A  minister  has  no  right  to  abuse  his  liberty,  nor  treat  the 
creed  of  his  church  with  disrespect  even  if  the  time  has  come 
when  it  ought  to  be  modified  or  superseded.  He  may  not 
properly  regard  it  with  levity  or  scorn.  It  is  the  high  water 
mark  of  religious  and  theological  opinion  at  one  period  in  the 
life  of  the  institution  whose  continuity  and  welfare  he  is  glad 
to  promote. 

A  council  was  called  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  to  install  as 
its  minister  a  bright  but  erratic  young  theological  graduate. 
On  his  examination  it  proved  that  he  had  paid  no  attention  to 
the  confession  of  faith  of  the  church  to  whose  pastorate  he  was 
called,  considered  it  wholly  unnecessary  that  he  should  have 
read  it,  and  not  only  did  not  believe  it  but  held  it  in  no  par- 
ticular reverence.  The  Council  very  properly  refused  to  in- 
stall him.  He  has  had  a  career  in  literature  more  successful 
than  he  probably  would  have  had  in  that  pastorate. 

A  professor  in  one  of  our  Congregational  theological  sem- 
inaries published  a  book  whichi  was  declared  to  be  at  variance 
with  the  creed  of  the  institution.  He  answered  that  it  was  not 
contradictory  to  the  said  creed,  and  that  a  subsequent  volume, 
a  sequel  to  the  first,  would  show  his  essential  conformity  to  the 
seminary  creed.     On  this  representation  the  directors  of  the 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  271 

seminary  granted  him  a  year's  leave  of  absence,  with  salary. 
The  succeeding  volume  did  not  show  the  anticipated  hannony 
of  view  between  the  professor  and  the  creed,  and  he  was  dis- 
missed from  the  seminary  faculty. 

It  is  not  by  any  means  certain  that  this  is  what  ought  to 
have  been  done.  This  professor  had  an  indefeasible  right  to 
insist  that  his  view  of  truth  and  the  view  of  the  good  men  who 
made  the  creed  should  both  be  tested  by  the  Word  of  God.  He 
had  a  right  to  insist  that  no  creed  should  be  permitted  perma- 
nently to  stand  the  authoritative  declaration  of  truth  as  held 
by  a  Congregational  institution.  He  had  a  right  to  demand 
that  the  living  man  who  wrote  the  book  and  the  dead  men  who 
made  the  creed  should  be  weighed  in  an  even  balance. 

The  Spirit  of  Grod  is  not  monopolized  by  the  minister; 
that  Spirit  is  poured  out  upon  the  whole  body  of  the  church 
and  the  church  has  a  right  to  its  judgment  of  truth  as  really 
as  the  minister,  but  that  judgment  must  be  according  to  spirit- 
ual standards  and  not  according  to  the  standards  of  commerce. 
Many  a  minister  has  been  expelled  from  his  pulpit  at  the  be- 
hest of  some  arrogant  layman,  w^ho  pretended  to  no  higher 
system  of  judgment  than  that  which  he  would  have  applied  to 
his  own  stenographer.  "Now  the  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto 
him;  and  he  cannot  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually 
judged.  But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things,  and  he 
himself  is  judged  of  no  man."     (1  Cor.  2 :  14,  15) 

No  layman  is  competent  to  sit  in  judgment  of  his  minister 
in  spiritual  things  so  long  as  he  himself  judges  on  the  basis 
of  things  commercial.  The  minister,  if  he  truly  judges  wdth 
his  spiritual  judgment,  stands  before  his  God  and  should  stand 
before  his  congregation  immeasurably  lifted  above  the  judg- 
ment of  all  such  worldly  standards.  Judging  spiritually,  he 
judgeth  all  things  and  is  judged  by  no  man. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  Congregational  theory  the  minister 
is  a  member  of  the  church  and  subject  to  it  in  all  matters  re- 


272     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

lating  to  his'  own  Christian  life  and  practice,  but  it  is  not  true 
that  the  congregation,  much  less  any  one  member  of  it,  is  sole 
judge  of  what  the  minister  may  or  should  teach,  or  of  his  con- 
formity or  non-conformity  to  the  standards  of  orthodoxy. 
Such  a  doctrine  would  have  been  instantly  repudiated  by  all 
the  early  Puritan  ministers  and  should  not  for  a  moment  be 
tolerated  in  modern  Congregationalism. 

Across  the  face  of  every  Congregational  creed  is  writ 
large  this  fundamental  principle  of  Congregational  assent, 
namely,  that  everj^  creed  is  an  imperfect  expression  of  the 
truth  it  endeavors  to  embody,  and  that  no  creed  can  ever  stand 
upon  the  same  plane  of  authority  with  the  Holy  Scriptures  in- 
terpreted by  the  spirit  that  gave  them.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  a  creed  should  state  in  explicit  terms  its  own  limitations 
nor  contain  an  avowed  disclaimer  on  behalf  of  those  who  assent 
to  it.  These  limitations  are  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  docu- 
ment and  of  the  act  of  subscription.  He  who  accepts  a  creed 
in  Congregationalism  accepts  not  its  ipsisima  verba  but  the 
substance  of  faith,  which  from  age  to  age  has  been  in  all  creeds. 


III.  CREEDS  AND  THE  SECOND  COMMANDMENT 

The  essential  sin  of  the  unchanging  creed  is  tliat  it  violates 
the  Second  Commandment.  We  do  greatly  err,  not  knowing 
the  Scriptures,  if  we  suppose  that  the  plastic  arts  are  more 
prone  than  any  other  arts  to  the  making  of  false  objects  of 
worship.  Sculpture  and  painting  are  not  the  only  means  by 
which  men  create  images  of  God  and  compel  men  to  worship 
them. 

May  not  the  paintings  of  our  Lord,  imperfect  as  they  are, 
yet  the  work  of  men  who  have  given  their  lives  to  attempts  to 
make  real  their  highest  conception  of  the  look  of  the  Saviour 
of  men,  be  an  aid  to  our  devotion?  Before  such  a  picture,  or 
a  statue  of  Christ,  carved  by  an  earnest  soul  who  wished  to 
make  his  best  thought  of  God  incarnate  in  stone  or  bronze 
wdiere  it  might  bless  him  and  others,  w^hy  might  we  not  bow 
and  pray  and  be  the  better  for  it?    Very  likely  we  might. 

But  is  not  this  the  essential  evil  of  idolatry,  that  though 
in  the  firat  generation  it  may  really  aid  devotion,  it  fastens  on 
succeeding  generations  an  object  of  worship  which  they  have 
out  grown,  yet  which  they  may  not  discard?  Those  still  live 
who  love  it,  and  they  themselves  have  been  taught  to  love  it ; 
that  which  was  the  high-water  mark  of  one  generation's  devo- 
tion to  God  will  become  to  the  next,  ere  yet  that  first  genera- 
tion has  passed  from  the  earth,  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the 
same  devotion.  God  meant  that  men  should  grow.  A  graven 
image  limits  growth :  and  when  men  cease  to  grow  better  they 
grow  worse. 

Well  may  we  rejoice  that  God  determined  to  stamp  out 
idol-worship  though  to  do  it  obliterated  nations.    Well  may  we 

273 


274    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

rejoice  that  the  Lord  our  God  is  jealous  and,  because  of  the 
inevitable  tendency  of  idolatry  to  visit  its  iniquities  upon  the 
children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  has  sent  the  icono- 
clast and  conqueror  with  hammer  and  torch  and  sword,  where 
men  have  made  a  lie  of  the  image  of  God. 

Every  thought  we  have  of  God  is  but  an  approach  to  the 
truth.  We  cannot  find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfection.  Every 
revelation  of  God  to  us  is  of  necessity  minified  and  even  dis- 
colored by  our  ignorance  and  previous  training.  God  would 
teach  us  some  truths  concerning  Himself  through  the  words 
of  inspired  men,  mostly  on  current  or  prospective  events ;  these 
do  not  reveal  God  directly,  but  leave  us  to  infer  some  things 
about  Him.  He  would  reveal  some  other  truths  through  an 
elaborate  ritual  and  isystem  of  sacrifice,  once  for  its  temporary 
uses  approved  by  Him,  but  now  in  view  of  the  growth  of 
knowledge  concerning  Him,  laid  aside  as  something  outgrown, 
though  still  worthy  of  preservation  for  historic  purposes,  and 
to  give  added  meaning  and  perspective  to  more  perfect  reve- 
lations. He  would  show  us  more  of  Himself  through  Jesus 
Christ,  in  whom  we  behold  the  Divine  Nature  amid  the  limita- 
tions of  a  human  body  and  the  progress  of  a  human  develop- 
ment and  experience.  He  would  have  us  learn  other  truths 
concerning  Himself  through  our  o\\ti  nature  and  that  of  the 
world  which  He  has  made.  He  would  have  us  learn  other 
truths  concerning  Himself  through  a  divine  institution,  the 
Church,  in,  which  He  is  present  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
whose  histoiy,  together  with  the  character  of  the  men  and 
women  who  have  adorned  it,  shows  wonderfully  His  power  and 
goodness.  Yet  all  these,  no  one  of  them  perfectly  understood, 
cannot  show  us  all  that  God  is.  By  a  multitude  of  figures  and 
a  variety  of  names  He  has  endeavoi'cd  to  make  us  understand 
this  or  that  truth  concerning  Him — He  is  a  Shepherd,  a  King, 
a  Husbandman,  a  Father,  a  Bridegroom,  the  Captain  of  a 
host ;  He  appears  in  a  cloud,  a  flame,  an  angelic  form ;  all  these 
manifestations  reveal  some  truth,  but  the  sum  of  them  does  not 


CREEDS   AND   THE    SECOND    COMMANDMENT  275 

reveal  the  sum  of  trath  about  God.  Thej'  are  the  pieces  of 
glass  in  the  kaleidoscope  of  the  individual  mind ;  each  is  the 
fragment  of  the  real  truth,  and  the  whole  are  capable  of  many 
combinations. 

Well  may  we  admire  the  labor  and  marvel  at  the  skill 
and  spiritual  insight  of  the  (Jhurch  fathers  of  the  early  cen- 
turies. The  creeds  and  systems  into  which  they  wrought  their 
interpretations  of  Scripture  and  their  thoughts  of  God  are, 
many  of  them,  wonderful  productions.  But  their  theories  of 
God's  sovereignty,  their  exact  chart  of  His  attributes,  their 
reduction  of  divinity  to  a  formula,  their  graven  image  of  His 
character,  ought  not  to  be  the  limit  of  our  search  for  God. 
Their  grouping  of  the  manifold  revelations  of  God  in  an 
attempt  to  make  clear  his  threefold  nature  may  be  helpful  to 
us  up  to  a  certain  point,  but  their  hard  and  mechanical  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  though  we  may  accept  it  as  the  best  possi- 
ble at  present  for  ourselves,  should  never  be  fastened  upon 
others  as  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  Christian  insight  and  discovery, 
nor  even  accepted  by  ourselves  as  final  truth.  The  analogies 
by  which  our  fathers  of  later  generations  attempted  to  set 
forth  the  gi'eat  doctrines  of  Christianity,  close  as  was  their 
walk  with  God,  clear  as  was  their  view  of  many  of  the  most 
essential  truths  concerning  God,  should  interpose  no  limit  to 
our  thought.  God  as  the  universal  Sovereign,  means  more  or 
less  to  men,  according  to  their  experience  with  human  mon- 
archs.  God  as  the  Divine  Shepherd  means  more  or  less  to 
men,  according  as  they  know  or  do  not  know  the  sheep  as  a 
domestic  animal ;  and  among  those  who  do  so  know  it  the  idea 
varies  in  meaning,  according  as  the  sheep  are  raised  in  vast 
herds  upon  a  ranch,  or  kept  in  small  folds,  carefully  watched 
by  day  and  night,  and  known  individually  by  name ;  and  the 
figure,  however  much  it  may  mean  to  us,  is  still  a  figure,  and 
not  absolute  truth.  God  as  our  Father,  though  this  figure  is 
that  taught  us  by  our  Saviour  Himself,  means  more  or  less  to 
us  in  proportion  to  our  experience  and  ideal  of  fatherhood,  and 


276     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

the  limitation  which  we  may  place  upon  the  application  of  the 
pronoun  ' '  our. ' '  In  every  age,  and,  we  may  believe,  in  every 
nation,  God  has  made  Himself  known  to  men  through  the  best 
possible  media ;  and  all  of  these  revelations  are  to  be  studied 
earnestly,  and  their  light  received  with  thankfulness ;  but  that 
former  generations  should  weld  their  ideas,  even  their  best 
ones,  as  fetters  upon  us,  or  we  ours  upon  others,  and  thus  keep 
men  from  coming  to  their  highest  possible  knowledge  of  God — 
what  is  this  but  the  making  of  a  graven  image,  and  not  only 
bowing  to  it,  but  teaching  others,  who  else  might  learn  better, 
to  do  so?  And  if  this  were,  as  it  certainly  is  not,  one  of  the 
least  of  the  commandments,  should  not  those  who  break  it  and 
teach  men  so,  be  least  in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  ?  This  is  no 
disowning  of  our  ancestors.  Thank  God  for  them,  for  their 
piety,  their  unflinching  integrity,  their  godlikeness  according 
to  their  knowledge  of  God !  They  were  so  great  and  so  good 
because  they  refused  to  be  fettered  by  the  past  and  to  worship 
any  image  but  that  which  the  living  G^d  revealed  to  their  own 
souls  through  patient  study  of  His  Word  and  earnest  strivings 
after  righteousnes's ;  but  looking  with  reverence  upon  the  sys- 
tems which  they  reared,  it  is  one  thing  to  regard  them  as 
sacred  mementos  of  times  when  the  waters  divided  before  the 
ark  they  bore,  and  quite  a  different  thing  to  regard  them  as 
pedestals  upon  some  one  of  which  we  must  become  statues,  and 
forever  fasten  ourselves  in  unthinking,  unprogressive  silence, 
to  their  sublime,  but  defective  theories. 

Our  little  systems  have  their  day. 

They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be : 

They  are  but  lesser  lights  of  Thee, 
And  Thou,  0  God,  art  more  than  they ! 
The  iconoclast  had  his  place,  but  this  chapter  is  not  meant 
to  be  iconoclastic  nor  even  to  a  mild  degree  polemic ;  it  simply 
endeavors  to  set  forth  the  fact  that  God  meant  that  men  should 
know  Him  better  and  better,  and  has  forbidden  any  man  to 
darken  men 's  search  for  the  increasing  light  with  systems  that 


CREEDS   AND   THE   SECOND    COMMANDMENT  277 

once  shed  light,  but  now,  in  the  growing  dawn  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  Him,  like  a  candle-flame  in  the  brightness  of  an  eleetiic 
arclight  have  come  to  cast  a  shadow. 

Every  generation  must  define  God  in  the  light  of  God's 
progressive  revelation.  The  older  theologians  defined  God  in 
terms  of  monarehial  government,  for  they  knew  no  other.  Has 
God  revealed  no  new  conception  of  Himself  to  humanity 
through  the  experience  of  democratic  government?  To  deny 
that  He  had  done  so  would  be  a  virtual  atheism.  It  has  been 
true  in  Theology,  as  in  other  disciplines,  that  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention.  The  experiences  of  self-government,  with 
all  their  perils  and  blunders,  have  served  to  show  increasingly 
to  men  and  nations  that  we  have  a  Republic  of  God  as  tnily 
as  a  Kingdom  of  God,  and  that  God  is  working  out  his  own 
self-expression  through  human  experiences,  social  and  national 
as  Avell  as  personal.  The  idea  of  a  static  God  is  outgrown ;  we 
need  an  adequate  God,  a  God  whose  life  is  inwrought  with  the 
stuff  of  the  world. 

When  God  spake  to  Moses,  saying,  ' '  I  am  Jehovah  :  and  I 
appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob  as  El- 
Shaddai,  but  by  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  unto 
them,"  (Ex.  6:  2,  3),  He  not  only  authorized  but  compelled 
a  new  definition  of  God. 

The  effect  of  the  disruption  of  the  Kingdoms  of  Israel  and 
Judah  on  the  idea  of  God  must  have  been  tremendous.  It 
brought  about  a  condition  in  which  the  nobler  prophets  were 
able  to  conceive  of  Jehovah  as  the  God  not  only  of  two  nations 
but  of  all  nations.  Thus  Amos  declared  that  the  Israelites 
were  no  more  precious  to  Jehovah  than  the  Ethiopians;  and 
that  even  the  exodus,  in  which  Jehovah  had  brought  up  his 
people  out  of  Eg\"pt,  was  no  proof  that  Israel  was  the  only 
nation  He  loved,  for  the  Philistines  had  come  up  from  Caphtor 
and  the  Syrians  from  Kir,  and  the  same  God,  Jehovah,  had 
guided  the  destinies  of  these  heathen  nations  (Amos  9:  7,  8). 
What  a  remarkable  affirmation  this  is,  and  how  utterly  it  des- 


278     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

troys  the  idea  that  in  the  mind  of  the  prophet  Jehovah  never 
became  anything  else  than  a  tribal  God! 

Just  as  the  exodus  and  the  division  of  the  kingdoms  of 
Israel  and  Judah  resulted  in  new  and  larger  ideas  of  God,  so 
must  our  experiences,  personal,  national  and  international 
enlarge  our  thought  of  his  majesty  and  greatness.  We  must 
believe  in  a  God  who  is  great  enough  to  strain  our  old  defini- 
tions to  the  breaking  point,  a  God  who  is  the  God  of  the 
English  and  of  the  Germans,  of  the  French  and  the  Austrians, 
of  the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles,  the  Protestants  and  the  Roman 
Catholics,  a  God  who  is  as  much  greater  than  all  our  defini- 
tions as  the  river  is  greater  than  the  cup  from  which  we  drink 
of  it,  as  the  ocean  is  greater  than  the  raindrop  which  ascended 
from  the  ocean  and  returns  to  the  ocean  but  refreshes  us  and 
gladdens  the  little  spot  of  earth  where  we  abide.  The  cupful 
is  of  the  river  and  like  the  river  but  it  is  not  the  whole  river ; 
the  raindrop  is  born  of  the  ocean  and  has  its  home  in  the 
ocean,  but  the  qualities  of  the  ocean  are  not  all  to  be 
inferred  from  the  qualities  of  the  raindrop. 

The  changing  needs  of  successive  generations  have  com- 
pelled repeated  changes  in  their  definition  of  God.  The  second 
commandment,  forbidding  us  to  make  a  graven  image  and  call 
it  God,  applies  in  its  spiritual  principle  as  truly  to  the  art  of 
the  creed-maker  as  that  of  the  manufacturer  of  graven  images. 
Every  generation  must  have  a  conception  of  God  adequate  to 
its  needs.  This  necessity  has  caused  a  majority  of  the  defini- 
tions of  God  to  fall  out  of  their  former  place  in  the  require- 
ments of  human  life.  A  local  god,  i.e.,  a  tribal  god,  a  god  of 
the  land,  a  god  of  the  sea,  a  god  for  some  particular  need,  may 
satisfy  some  temporary  or  particular  requirement  of  human 
life.  But  only  a  religion  which  proceeds  from  God  himself 
can  afford  us  a  conception  of  God  that  is  simple  enough  for 
primitive  ages  and  great  enough  for  the  age  in  which  we  live. 

The  world  needs  an  adequate  God,  namely,  a  God  whose 
life  is  inwrought  with  that  of  the  world  He  has  made  and  who 


CREEDS   AND   TIIE   SECOND    COMMANDMENT  279 

is  working  His  very  own  life  out  into  adequate  expression 
through  human  experience. 

To  some  people  this  is  a  new  conception  of  God,  but  really 
it  is  not  so  new  as  it  seems.  Something  of  this  sort  was  in  the 
mind  of  the  apostle  John  when  he  said,  ' '  Behold  the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  shall  dwell  with  them,  and  they 
shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and 
be  their  God"  (Rev.  21:  3). 

We  have  need  of  a  transcendent  God,  a  God  who  is  above 
all  His  works,  a  First  Cause  whose  acti\aty  was  manifested  in 
the  beginning.  We  must  never  give  up  that  view  of  God,  but 
it  is  unfortunate  that  many  people  in  holding  that  view  have 
essentially  ruled  God  out  of  present-day  life.  They  think  of 
Him  as  a  Great  First  Cause  who  operates  now  only  through 
second  causes ;  a  God  who,  having  set  in  operation  these  second 
causes  now  operative  in  the  world  and  in  human  life,  has 
virtually  retired  from  active  business ;  a  God  whose  existence 
is  to  be  proved  by  reference  to  origins  rather  than  from  cur- 
rent activities ;  a  God  whom  we  could  not  infer  from  anything 
we  now  see,  but  in  whom  we  are  to  believe  by  reason  of  what 
people  saw  and  heard  a  long  time  ago. 

To  these  manifest  limitations  upon  our  idea  of  God  are 
added  other  hampering  limitations  invented  on  supposed  be- 
half of  God 's  own  interests.  These  good  people  hold  to  a  God 
who  was  interested  in  only  one  nation,  the  Jews,  and  only  one 
department  of  human  life,  the  sacred  as  opposed  to  the  secular, 
and  only  one  place  in  His  universe,  heaven  as  opposed  to  earth 
and  hell.  We  are  sure  that  God  is  subject  to  no  such  limita- 
tions. If  God  has  to  have  a  hell  He  is  interested  in  what  is 
going  on  there,  and  is  doing  the  very  best  He  can  for  it  under 
the  circumstances,  God  has  made  the  world,  He  has  not  for- 
saken it,  and  it  is  just  as  much  a  part  of  his  domain  as  heaven 
is.  Our  God  is  concerned  wath  origins,  but  just  as  much  con- 
cerned with  processes. 


280     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

The  noble  utterance  of  the  prophet  takes  in  the  whole 
sweep  of  human  history  and  considers  the  afflictions  of  the 
people  of  God,  when  in  a  truly  inspired  declaration  he  says, 
''In  all  their  afflictions  God  was  afflicted."  God  suffers  with 
the  sufferings  of  humanity. 

Victor  Hugo  once  said,  ' '  He  who  has  seen  the  sorrows  of 
men  has  seen  nothing ;  he  must  see  the  sorrows  of  women.  He 
who  sees  the  sorrows  of  women  has  seen  nothing;  he  must  see 
the  sorrows  of  children. ' '  Might  Ave  not  add  to  tihs,  ' '  He  who 
has  seen  the  sorrows  of  women,  men  and  children  has  seen 
nothing;  he  must  see  the  sorrows  of  Christ.  And  yet  again, 
he  who  has  iseen  the  soitows  of  Christ  has  had  only  a  sugges- 
tion of  the  infinite  sorrows  of  God." 

There  is  a  conception  of  God  which  lifts  Him  above  all 
possibility  of  personal  sorrow.  Knowing  the  end  from  the 
beginning,  He  serenely  contemplates  all  that  is,  assured  that 
in  the  end  it  will  be  well.  To  Him  there  is  no  distinction 
between  past,  present  and  future ;  all  that  is  past  and  all  that 
is  to  come  constitutes  to  Him  an  eternal  now.  But  this  is  not 
the  idea  of  God  which  best  harmonizes  with  our  present-day 
thinking,  nor  is  it  that  which  best  represents  the  highest  con- 
ception revealed  in  Holy  Writ.  God  has  a  personal  stake  in 
the  personal  affairs  of  the  universe.  God  has  intimate  per- 
sonal concern  with  all  that  happens  in  the  world.  The  struct- 
ure of  this  planet  and  of  other  planets  is  one  in  substance, 
origin  and  destiny  with  the  structure  of  the  central  sun.  Not 
only  has  it  no  life  apart  from  the  sun,  but  the  solar  system  is 
incomplete  without  it  both  in  importance  and  in  potentiality. 
So  the  life  of  God  is  in  the  life  of  all  that  He  has  made  and 
is  incomplete  without  it.  The  life  of  God  is  affected  by  the 
life  of  all  the  world. 

God  is  the  ultimate  reality.  Our  thought  of  God  is  our 
uppermost  and  outermost  mental  possibility.  Our  experience 
of  God  is  the  largest  and  deepest  of  all  human  experiences.    In 


CREEDS   AND   THE   SECOND    COMMANDMENT  281 

our  thought  of  God  and  in  our  experience  of  God,  God  himself 
participates. 

There  was  a  time  when  men  thought  of  God  as  a  monarch 
ruling  a  rebellious  world.  He  was  not  only  a  king,  but  the 
king  of  an  empire  in  revolt.  It  is  no  caricature  of  some  con- 
ceptions of  the  relation  of  God  to  the  world  to  say  that  God 
was  almost  like  the  Avarden  of  a  penitentiary,  ruling  rigorously 
over  an  unwilling  body  of  criminals,  each  one  of  whom  de- 
seiwed  to  hang  and  toward  whom  even  the  utmost  severity 
short  of  eternal  damnation  was  to  be  considered  large  and  un- 
merited mercy. 

"We  have  come  to  see  clearly  that  this  is  not  an  adequate 
conception  of  God.  God  is  a  Father  and  the  Father  of  all  His 
children,  good  and  bad.  Whatever  He  does  by  way  of  disci- 
pline He  does  as  a  father  might  do.  Not  only  so,  as  the 
father's  life  is  the  life  of  the  child,  so  God's  life  is  inwrought 
into  the  life  of  the  world.  The  sorrows  of  human  life  are  Hisi 
soiTows.  God  is  working  out  His  own  diversified  experience 
in  the  experiences  of  humanity.  What  we  work  out  with  fear 
and  trembling  God  works  in  us  to  will  and  to  do  His  good 
pleasure. 

This  conception  of  God  forever  does  away  wiih  the  pos- 
sibility of  divine  heartlessness.  If  wicked  men  go  to  war  and 
murder  one  another,  God  looks  upon  it  not  as  a  thing  of  no 
concern  to  himself,  nor  yet  simply  in  the  light  of  a  just  retri- 
bution inflicted  upon  the  ill-deseiwing.  God's  own  life  is  in 
the  struggle.  The  life  of  God  is  being  born  again  through 
agony  and  pain.  ''In  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted,  and 
the  angel  of  his  presence  saved  them:  in  his  love  and  in  his 
pity  he  redeemed  them ;  and  he  bare  them,  and  carried  them 
all  the  days  of  old."  (Isaiah  63  :  9.) 

God  suffers  to  redeem.  Not  only  is  He  afflicted  in  the 
afflictions  of  His  people,  but  the  Angel  of  His  i)reRence  saves 
them.  God  is  no  passive  sufferer.  God  is  no  hopeless,  misan- 
thropic invalid.    God  has  not  settled  down  into  a  condition  of 


282    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

meek  acceptance  of  inevitable  sorrow.  God  suffers  that  He 
may  save. 

The  world  is  to  be  saved.  The  sorrows  of  human  life  are 
not  hopeless.  He  who  has  given  us  the  cross  as  the  triumphant 
expression  of  an  adequate  faith  has  not  left  us  to  suffer  hope- 
lessly in  the  world  for  which  Christ  died.  God  suffers  with 
His  people  that  He  may  redeem  them. 

The  evil  of  an  unchanging  creed  is  that  it  leaves  no  room 
for  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  says  ' '  I  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost ' '  but  leaves  very  little  for  the  Holy  Ghost  to  do. 
Its  creed  is  a  graven  image.  For  by  what  process  of  reasoning 
can  it  be  shown  to  be  more  idolatrous  to  make  gods  out  of 
wood  than  out  of  words ;  out  of  logs  than  out  of  logic ;  out  of 
stones  than  out  of  syllogisms ;  out  of  dirt  than  out  of  defini- 
tions! The  evil  is  not  in  making  creeds,  any  more  than  it  is 
in  painting  pictures  of  Christ ;  but  it  is  in  holding  before  the 
eyes  of  men  a  work  of  men's  hands  as  a  substitute  for  the 
spiritual  experience  of  God.  Whosoever  shall  break  one  of 
the  least  commandments  and  shall  teach  men  so,  shall  be  called 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  second  commandment  is 
not  the  least  of  the  commandments,  and  he  violates  it  who 
makes  an  unyielding  creed  and  teaches  men  so. 


IV.  THE  REPEAL  OF  OBSOLETE  CREEDS 

It  is  often  exceedingly  difficult  to  accomplish  the  formal 
repeal  of  an  obsolete  creed.  The  older  it  is  and  hence  the 
farther  it  is  removed  from  the  life  of  to-day,  the  more  difficult 
it  is  to  secure  its  technical  repeal.  Sentiment  will  have  come 
to  attach  its  own  meanings  to  venerable  words  and  phrases 
until  it  seems  a  sacrilege  to  remove  it  from  its  time-honored 
place  in  the  organic  law  of  the  church. 

Moreover,  the  proposal  to  remove  it  Avill  often  rouse  this 
challenge :  Why  should  we  not  seek  to  bring  our  decadent  faith 
up  to  the  level  of  that  expressed  in  the  creed  rather  than  to 
lower  our  credal  tests  to  confomi  to  an  admittedly  changed 
and  presumably  deteriorated  condition? 

This  view  was  strongly  presented  before  the  National 
Council  in  1886  in  a  paper  by  Dr.  George  R.  Leavitt.  A  com- 
mittee had  been  appointed  to  report  on  the  state  of  the 
churches  and  ministerial  supply,  but  instead  of  a  report  it 
presented  two  quite  independent  papere,  one  by  Dr.  Quint  on 
"Ministerial  Supply,"  and  the  other  by  Dr.  Leavitt  in  answer 
to  the  question  whether  the  disappointingly  small  accessions 
to  the  churches  might  be  due  to  too  high  a  standard  prevalent 
among  them  either  with  respect  to  Christian  duty  or  doctrinal 
confession.  He  assumed  that  our  churches  in  general  "would 
decline  to  receive  as  members,  persons  who  insist  upon  the 
liberty  to  dance,  to  play  cards,  to  attend  the  theater  and  the 
opera,"  and  to  do  certain  other  things  which  he  specified  in. 
a  rather  long  list.  He  admitted  that  in  some  places  where 
"local  laxity  prevailed"  a  peraon  who  did  one  or  more  of 

283 


284     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

these  things  might  conceivably  become  a  member  of  a  Con- 
gregational church,  and  he  stated  the  issue  thus : 

Perhaps  this  statement  is  suflBcieiitly  clear  and  full  to  bring 
before  us  the  customary  tests  restricting  admission  to  our  Congre- 
gational churches.  The  question  before  us  is:  Will  it  be  wise  to 
modify  these  tests?  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  question  is  not 
whether,  in  our  judgment,  a  person  can  be  hopefully  a  Christian 
who  is  not  able  to  meet  these  tests,  but  rather  whether  we  should 
shape  our  terms  of  admission  in  especial  view  of  an  assumed  class 
of  such  persons?  Or,  rather,  again,  it  may  be  said  to  be,  whether 
we  ought  to  recast  our  tests  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  a  greater 
certainty  that  we  do  not  turn  any  true  Christian  away,  even  at  an 
involved  addition  of  risk  of  receiving  to  our  membership,  in  in- 
creased numbers,  two  classes  of  persons, — the  unconverted  and  the 
inconsistemt. 

In  the  matter  of  creed  tests  he  was  equally  emphatic.  It 
seemed  to  him  entirely  certain  that  Jesus  on  the  night  of  the 
last  supper  would  have  refused  the  sacramental  cup  to  Peter 
or  John,  or  any  of  the  others,  if  one  of  them  had  expressed  a 
doubt  as  to  the  eternity  of  future  punishment: 

Or.  again,  suppose  John  to  have  risen  there,  and  presented  to 
the  Saviour  his  scruples:  "My  beloved  Lord,  In  the  past  I  have 
believed  in  the  righteousness  and  the  certainty  of  the  revealed 
judgment  upon  the  impenitent.  But  since  hearing  more  fully  of 
your  wonderful  teachings  concerning  love,  as  the  essential  spirit 
of  the  Gospel,  above  all,  since  seeing  it  so  divinely  exemplified  in 
your  life,  I  cannot,  suffer  me  to  say  it,  I  cannot  believe  that  any 
soul  will  be  finally  lost.  I  know  your  teachings  upon  this  terrible 
subject.  I  do  not  overlook  that  you  have  given  so  great  and  so  ex- 
plicit emphasis  upon  these  teachings  within  the  present  week.  But 
I  cannot  receive  them.  I  cannot  believe  that  there  is  to  be  a  separ- 
ation, forever,  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  This  part  of  your 
teaching  is  too  severe.  May  it  not  be  relaxed?"  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances would  the  Saviour,  is  it  conceivable,  have  put  that  mem- 
orial cup  to  the  lips  even  of  John — ^the  cup  of  death  and  life?  Or 
suppose  Thomas  to  have  declared  a  doubt,  as  cherished  by  him, 
of  the  divine  authority  of  the  words  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
entire  volume  of  Scripture.  Or  suppose  Nathanael  to  have  ques- 
tioned whether  a  guileless  life  would  not  be  a  sufiicient  claim  for 
salvation,  expressing  a  doubt  of  the  efficacy  or  the  necessity  of  a 
sacrificial  atonement  for  sin. 

With  respect  to  doctrine,  his  convictions  were  quite  as 
strong.     He  believed  our  doctrinal  tests  to  be  Scriptural  in 


THE   REPEAL   OF   OBSOLETE   CREEDS  285 

the  sense  that  the  customary  creeds  could  be  established  by 
proofs  deduced  from  Ilol.y  Scripture,  He  referred  to  the 
then  recently  published  creed  of  1883  in  terms  that  implied 
a  conviction  that  this  document  involved  a  dan.^-ei'ous  letting 
down  of  the  doctrinal  standards  of  the  denomination.  Those 
of  us  wlio  knew  and  honored  Dr.  Leavitt  and  who  never  es- 
teemed him  more  liighly  than  when  he  differed  from  us  in 
judgment,  can  imagine  with  what  fervor  he  uttered  this  pro- 
test against  any  abatement  of  stringent  doctrinal  tests  as  a 
condition  of  church  membership : 

Shall  we  let  down  the  bars?  This  is  the  question,  brethren,  of 
the  National  Council.  This  was  not  the  question  in  the  early  dec- 
ades of  this  century,  when  our  life  was  spiritually  renewed  and  our 
great  benevolent  and  missionary  work  was  inaugurated  in  the  be- 
ginnings of  an  imperial  history.  It  was  not  a  question  at  Boston 
in  1865;  it  was  not  a  question  at  Oberlin  in  1871,  when  President 
Finney  laid  his  hands  upon  us  in  dying  benediction.  But  this  year 
this  is  one  of  the  questions  raised  for  us.  Standing  in  this  place 
of  high  survey,  hearing  the  Saviour  charging  us.  Lift  up  your  eyes 
and  look  upon  the  field;  seeing  these  vast  cities,  with  their  for- 
midable problems;  surveying  this  great  continent  lying  east  and 
west  to  the  oceans;  looking  toward  the  millions  of  a  South  where 
the  bars  have  been  down  for  a  hundred  years,  shall  our  word  be, 
"Lower  the  bars?"  Is  this  a  part  of  the  work  which  presses  upon 
the  conscience  of  this  Council?  Is  this  in  the  message  for  the  hour? 
Have  we  then  had  such  success  in  the  process  of  revision  of  creeds? 
Has  our  latest  attempt  so  promoted  peace  and  spiritual  power? 
Has  it  so  manifestly  obtained  the  favor  of  Heaven,  that  we  are 
encouraged  to  go  further  on  this  line  with  our  creeds,  and  even 
to  reach  beyond  and  lay  hands  upon  our  covenants  also?  Shall 
we  lower  the  bars  which  for  so  many  of  us  were  not  too  high  for 
our  infant  feet,  nor  for  those  of  our  children? — safeguards  which,  in 
times  of  sacred  experience,  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  and  our 
awakened  churches  have  so  plainly  raised  a  little  higher,  tlhough 
still  not  too  high,  for  the  feet  of  the  children,  or  for  the  simplest  of 
spiritual  wayfarers.  Shall  we,  under  the  clarified  spiritual  gaze  of 
the  men  whose  honored  names  here  encircle  us,  let  down  the  bars? 

But  whether  it  be  called  a  lowering  of  the  bars  or  not 
human  creeds  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be,  and  no  man 
would  have  contended  more  strongly  than  Dr.  Leavitt  against 
the  spiritual  right  of  creeds  to  tyrannize  over  the  souls  of  men, 
however  earnestly  he  might  have  contended  foi-  a  particular 
creed. 


286     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Even  so  staunch  and  noble  a  Puritan  as  Dr.  Leavitt,  who 
would  have  fought  against  any  man's  right  to  impose  upon 
him  a  document  like  the  Athenasian  creed,  was  quite  capable 
of  fighting  courteously  but  fearlessly  against  any  attempt  to 
"let  down  the  bars"  by  substituting  the  Creed  of  1883  for  the 
Burial  Hill  Confession. 

We  are  told  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  that  "that 
which  is  becoming  old  and  waxeth  aged  is  nigh  unto  vanish- 
ing away,"  but  this  process  is  often  a  retarded  one.  The 
brazen  serpent  of  Moses  unto  which  men  looked  and  were 
healed  and  which  might  have  become  to  them  a  veritable 
symbol  of  the  uplifted  Christ  became  instead  an  object  of  su- 
perstitious reverence.  It  did  not  vanish  away  automatically. 
It  called  for  somewhat  heroic  treatment  on  the  part  of  Heze- 
kiah  who  referred  to  it  in  terms  of  contempt  and  ground  it  to 
powder. 

Now  it  is  a  pity  that  any  really  worthy  creed  should  ever 
have  had  to  be  treated  thus,  but  one  need  look  only  to  the 
Anglican  refusal  to  abolish  the  Athenasian  Creed,  to  Presby- 
terian conservatism  with  respect  to  the  Westminster  standards, 
and  to  the  repeated  refusal  of  the  Methodist  General  Confer- 
nce  to  eliminate  from  its  discipline  certain  admittedly  obsolete 
portions,  to  realize  how  very  difficult  it  may  become  to  secure 
by  formal  vote  a  recognition  of  what  may  have  come  to  be 
tacitly  acknowledged  by  everybody  that  a  particular  creed 
adopted  by  a  church  many  years  ago  is  no  longer  the  creed  of 
the  church. 

As  a  general  rule  a  creed  becomes  obsolete  a  long'  while 
before  it  is  repealed.  The  earnest  protest  of  two  or  three  aged 
members  will  usually  postpone  until  a  decent  interval  succeed- 
ing their  funerals  an  attempt  to  substitute  a  moi'e  modern 
creed  for  that  which  is  upon  the  books  of  the  church. 

It  is  here  that  the  perplexing  question  often  rises,  What 
is  the  duty  of  the  church  and  the  minister  when  the  creed  is 
manifestly   outgrown,    but    there    are    sentimental    or    other 


THE  REPEAL   OF    OBSOLETE   CREEDS  287 

reasons  which  prevent  an  immediate  change  ?  The  question  is 
as  perplexing  in  the  administration  of  obsolete  law  as  it  is  in 
the  interpretation  of  obsolete  creeds.  With  reference  to  laws, 
Hon.  Newton  D.  Baker,  Secretary  of  War,  recently  con- 
tributed a  suggestive  article  to  The  Atlantic  MontMy. 

We  Americans  have  got  into  the  habit  of  saying  of  ourselves,  or 
permitting  others  to  say  of  us,  that  we  are  a  law-breaicing  people. 
The  fact  is  that  we  are  probably  the  most  law-abiding  people  in 
the  world.  We  have  an  inexplicit  and  inexplicable  method  of  re- 
pealing some  of  the  laws  we,  outgrow  by  simply  ceasing  to  observe 
them;  but,  in  the  maintenance  of  order  in  society  through  the  auto- 
matic self-control  of  the  people,  none  but  the  simplest  rural  so- 
cieties can  compare  with  us. 

These  dead-letter  laws,  naturally  enough,  are  in  all  stages  of 
being  dead.  Those  against  witchcraft  have  been  dead  so  long  that 
even  the  sharpest  eyes  can  find  but  the  memory  of  them;  those 
requiring  men  to  tell  the  truth  in  personal-property  tax  returns, 
equally  but  not  so  anciently  dead,  can  still  be  summoned,  like  Glen- 
dower's  spirits  and  with  like  effect,  from  the  vastly  deep;  and  those 
of  more  recent  repudiation  have,  here  and  there,  a  tardy  friend 
who  refuses  to  accept  the  current  notion  of  their  deadness  and  so 
calls  them  occasionally  into  fitful  simulations  of  being  alive.  It  Is 
this  last  class  that  causes  the  trouble,  and  out  of  it  arises  one 
of  the  most  embarassing  phases  of  the  whole  question  of  law-en- 
forcement. Mayors,  administrations,  and  police  forces  are  more 
often  and  more  successfully  attacked  from  this  point  than  any 
other,  and  the  consequences,  all  too  often,  are  corrupted  policemen 
and  shuffling  executives  who  give  the  best  excuse  they  can  think 
of  at  the  moment  for  failure  to  do  the  impossible,  but  succeed  in 
adding  nothing  to  the  dispute  but  a  sense  of  their  own  perplexity. 

The  argument  ordinarily  presented  marches  with  a  stately 
tread.  "You  have  taken  an  oath  to  enforce  all  the  laws,"  the  chair- 
man of  the  Law-Enforcement  League  will  say;  'here  is  a  law  you 
are  not  enforcing.  You  are  not  chosen  to  elect  which  laws  are  to 
be  enforced,  nor  have  you  any  means  whatJever  of  determining 
whether  this  law  is  approved  by  the  general  conscience.  The  best 
way  to  repeal  a  bad  law  is  to  enforce  it."  Now  the  logic  of  this  is 
sound  enough,  but  the  history  of  our  law  from  the  earliest  times 
shows  that  we  Anglo-Saxons  have  preferred  a  wholly  different  way 
of  making  and  unmaking  our  laws;  and  however  desirable  this 
perfectly  logical  way  may  be  in  itself,  it  just  is  not  our  way.  We 
have  chosen  to  let  the  acts  and  thoughts  of  individuals  make  what- 
ever head  they  can  until  they  become  customs;  and  then  some  legis- 
lative body  discovers  them  in  full  operation  by  common  consent, 
and  by  enactment  "crystalizes  them  into  law."  The  process  of  un- 
making is  much  the  same.  A  custom  is  the  aggregate  of  individual 
habits,  and  a  new  custom  replaces  an  old  one  as  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  individuals  change  their  habits, — an  imperceptible  and  teas- 


288     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ing  process  which  leaves  the  inquirer  as  to  the  state  of  the  law,  at 
some  moments  in  its  course,  sadly  puzzled. 

Even  the  Law-Enforcement  Leagues  plainly  have  some  sense 
of  this  fact;  their  arguments,  grounded  on  generalizations,  always 
end  in  an  instance.  The  sensational  pulpit  will  rebuke  the  police 
department  for  its  failure  to  enforce  the  law;  a  committee  will  wait 
upon  the  mayor  and  demand  enforcement  to  the  letter ;  but  whether 
the  committee  be  clerical  or  lay,  and  however  broad  the  foundation 
laid  upon  the  vice  of  disregard  of  law,  the  object  finally  appears  to 
be  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  some  particular  law.  It  may  be  the 
midnight  or  Sunday  closing  of  saloons,  the  prohibition  of  theatrical 
exhibitions  on  Sunday  or  prize  fights  on  any  day,  or  another  spas- 
modic revival  of  the  notion  that  merely  putting  a  few  women  through 
the  amercing  processes  of  the  police  court  will  suppress  vice;  but 
whein  such  a  delegation  is  asked  whether  the  lesson  of  respect  for 
law  will  not  be  fui'ther  impressed  by  stopping  Sunday  street-cars, 
suppressing  the  Sunday  newspaper,  holding  up  the  milkman, 
and  generally  restoring  by  force  the  sabbath  of  the  statutes.  Wis- 
dom triumphs  over  knowledge,  and  the  reply  invariably  is 
that  it  would  be  better  to  take  one  thing  at  a  time  and 
especially  the  one  thing  then  agitating  that  particular  delegation. 
Often  the  order  asked  is  given,  with  the  result  that  the  committee 
reports  back  in  triumph,  the  league  chooses  a  new  subject  to 
fret  about,  and  the  executive  goes  again  through  the  discouraging 
and  futile  experience  of  trying  to  get  officers,  prosecutors,  judges, 
and  juries  to  do  just  what  none  of  them  will  do, —  namely,  convict 
people  of  crime  for  doing  things  that  are  the  community  habit  and 
practice.  Clearly  it  would  be  better  if  all  the  law  could  be  written 
and  all  that  is  written  be  law.  Clearly  it  is  a  bungling  system  to 
leave  this  borderland  between  the  live  and  the  dead  law  to  be  ex- 
plored by  the  discretion  of  individual  oflBcers,  and  to  have  these 
constant  controversies  as  to  the  existence  and  location  of  the  river 
of  doubt;  but  we  trail  centuries  of  experience  behind  us  in  our 
preference  for  this  way  of  doing  things,  and  the  alternatives  are  not 
free  from  difficulties  of  a  formidable  kind. 

For  one  thing,  it  will  never  be  easy  for  us  to  give  up  the  inter- 
nal elasticity  of  our  system  in  exchange  for  a  rigid  regimentation  of 
society  in  which  our  daily  lives  will  run  by  rules.  We  have  a  sense 
of  freedom  in  our  institutions  which  seems  almost  to  imply  a  con- 
sciousness that  we  made  the  rules  to  which  we  conform  and  are 
busy  revising  them,  from  day  to  day.  Moreover,  our  democracies 
are  too  large  to  act  with  the  speed  of  a  town  meeting;  and  we  must, 
therefore,  have  some  way  of  carrying  things  along  until  we  are  sure 
enough  of  the  permanence  of  a  new  practice  to  justify  putting  so 
large  a  machine  in  motion  to  give  it  formal  expression.  We  prefer 
to  have  mistakes  made,  now  and  then,  by  those  whose  business  it  is 
to  enforce  the  laws,  rather  than  to  subject  ourselves  to  a  mechani- 
cal enforcement  of  arbitrary  regulations  which  do  not  grow  as  we 
grow  and  do  not  ease  up  as  we  push  the  whole  social  weight  against 
them. 

The  common-law  jury  system  exemplifies  the  whole  story. 
Originally  the  jury  was  a  company  of  eye-witnesses  gathered  to- 


THE   REPEAL   OF   OBSOLETE   CREEDS  289 

gether  to  declare  a  fact  by  comparison  of  their  own  recollections 
as  to  its  occurrence.  Now  it  is  a  company  of  twelve  human,  habit- 
forming  beings  whose  function  is  to  prevent  the  letter  of  the  law 
from  killing  the  spirit  of  the  community.  The,  lawyers  may  read 
and  the  judges  charge,  but  the  jury  will  not  convict  unless  justice 
is  going  to  be  done,  and  justice  to  them  means  the  enforcement  of 
the  expectation  of  the  community  as  to  personal  conduct.  They 
enforce  neither  the  law  that  has  been  nor  t^e  law  that  is  to  be, 
but  the  law  that  is;  and  when  the  police  have  made  a  lot  of  arrests 
and  have  produced  flawless  proof  of  guilt  under  the  letter  of  the 
statute,  only  to  have  their  trouble  for  their  pains,  with  acquittal 
following  each  arrest,  they  quite  naturally  decide  to  devote  their 
energies  to  otheo-  classes  of  cases;  and  that  particular  statute,  for 
the  time  being  at  least,  has  suffered  a  democratic  repeal. — Law, 
Police  and  Social  Problems,  by  Hon.  Newton  D.  Baker  in  Atlantic 
Monthly. 

Many  good  people  stand  ready  to  take  is,sue  with  Mr. 
Baker  both  as  to  law  and  to  creeds.  They  take  their  stand  on 
the  affirmation  of  President  Grant  that  the  best  way  to  secure 
the  repeal  of  a  bad  law  is  to  enforce  it,  and  that  the  only  thing 
to  do  with  a  creed  so  long  as  it  remains  unrevoked  is  to  believe 
it  unreservedly,  preach  it  outspokenly,  and  insist  upon  its 
acceptance  unflinchingly.  But  in  actual  practice  it  has  been 
proved  that  the  enforcement  of  a  bad  law  is  not  commonly  the 
cause  of  the  repealing  of  the  law,  but  rather  the  occasion  of 
the  defeat  of  a  good  administration  at  the  next  election. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  Jesus  dealt  with  the  proposi- 
tion of  enforcing  an  obsolete  statute.  There  was  brought  to 
Him  a  woman  who  had  been  taken  in  adultery,  and  the  law 
said  she  should  be  stoned.  That  law  had  become  obsolete 
through  neglect,  and  in  the  time  of  Jesus  the  Jews  had  no 
authority  to  enforce  a  capital  sentence.  The  men  who  brought 
this  poor  woman  to  Jesus  had  as  fine  an  opportunity  as  such 
men  could  ever  wish  to  learn  whether  Jesus  would  favor  the 
enforcement  of  an  obsolete  law  even  at  the  cost  of  bringing 
down  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  the  Roman  government. 
What  Jesus  did  was  something  more  than  to  evade  the  issue. 
Jesus  probably  believed  that  the  law  was  a  good  one  in  the 
time  of  Moses,  but  that  it  was  unwise  to  enforce  it  in  His  own 
day.  In  any  event  He  did  not  direct  that  it  should  be  enforced. 


290     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Creeds  are  often  abolished  b}^  the  method  of  repeal  which 
Jesus  recognized  with  respect  to  this-  Mosaic  statute,  even 
though  they  remain  in  their  original  place  and  form  in  the 
church  Constitution;  even  though  people  subscribe  to  them 
and  recite  them,  they  are  already  repealed. 

The  adoption  of  a  creed  is  generally  a  proclamation  that 
it  is  already  virtually  obsolete.  No  creed  can  be  adopted  until 
the  thinkers  of  a  denomination  have  been  overtaken  by  a  great 
body  of  their  slowly  moving  folloAvers.  If  the  reall}-  creative 
minds  of  a  generation  were  at  liberty  to  make  and  adopt  its 
creeds,  they  would  formulate  documents  in  terms  unintelligible 
to  the  great  body  of  those  for  whose  use  they  were  intended. 
But  by  the  time  a  sufficient  number  of  the  advance  guards  of 
thought  have  gone  to  the  stake  for  their  convictions,  two 
things  are  likely  to  have  happened.  The  leaders  will  have 
grown  a  little  more  prudent,  and  the  multitude  will  have 
advanced  somewhat  beyond  their  fomier  stupidity  and  hos- 
tility to  the  truth,  so  it  will  have  become  possible  to  make  a 
creed  acceptable  to  a  sufficient  body  of  both  conservatives  and 
progressives  to  pemiit  of  the  creed's  adoption.  But  the  very 
fact  that  the  creed  is  now  adopted  is  a  virtual  admission  that 
it  no  longer  expresses  adequately  the  thought  of  the  leaders. 
The  business  of  creed-making  is  a  perpetual  building  of  the 
tombs  of  the  prophets,  whom  our  fathers  slew,  and  is  a  warn- 
ing to  us  to  have  a  care  lest  our  own  merry  executions  include 
in  them  now  and  then  a  prophet. 

An  ancient  creed  is  a  palimpsest.  The  original  words  are 
there,  written  by  some  venerable  hand  that  long  since  returned 
to  dust,  but  between  the  lines  of  the  same  parchment  are  writ- 
ten the  declarations  of  men 's  living  faith.  As  the  J  ews  placed 
the  vowel  points  of  the  human  title  "Lord"  beneath  the  four 
consonants  which  spelled  the  holy  name  Jehovah,  and  recited 
it  "Lord"  until  they  forgot  and  never  relearned  the  original 
pronunciation,  so  creeds  retain  the  consonants  of  the  original 
writers  and  the  vowels  of  the  modem  interpreters. 


THE   REPEAL   OF   OBSOLETE   CREEDS  291 

Nor  are  these  necessarily  at  fundamental  variance.  The 
modern  thinker,  who,  if  he  were  at  liberty  to  do  so,  might 
ohoose  to  express  his  faith  in  quite  other  terms,  but  who  is 
required  either  by  ecclesiastical  authority  or  the  exigencies  of 
Christian  co-operation  to  recite  an  ancient  formulary,  may  be 
able,  and  some  such  men  undeniably  are  able,  to  put  the  new 
wine  of  their  living  faith  into  the  old  bottles  of  the  ancient 
creed. 

And  yet,  there  is  a  more  excellent  way,  which  is  to  face 
frankly  the  fact  that  the  creed  is  a  temporary  instrument,  and 
that  it  ought  to  be  frequently  revised,  and  after  no  great 
interval  replaced,  by  one  that  embodies  the  truth  of  the  Gospel 
in  the  speech  of  living  men. 


V.    A  TESTIMONY,  NOT  A  TEST 

The  author  of  this  volume  has  been  credited  with  the 
authorship  of  the  affirmation  that  in  Congregationalism,  creeds 
are  a  testimony,  and  not  a  test ;  and  he  has  been  informed  that 
the  distinction  is  an  impossible  one.  The  distinction  is  entirely 
valid,  and  neither  the  words  nor  the  principle  of  this  distinc- 
tion are  original  with  this  author.  This  statement  came  into 
common  currency  in  connection  with  the  discussions  concern- 
ing the  Creed  of  1883,  and  it  was  distinctly  in  accord  with  our 
historic  attitude  toward  confessions  of  faith. 

But  that  was  not  the  origin  of  this  happy  and  truthful 
phrase.  It  was  quoted  with  approval,  in  the  Congregational 
Quarterly  in  1862,  from  a  sermon  by  Prof.  Daniel  T.  Smith, 
before  the  Maine  Missionary  Society,  in  1856,  in  which  he 
protested  against  what  had  come  to  be  the  prevailing  custom 
of  requiring  "as  a  necessary  qualification  for  admission,  an 
assent  to  creeds  and  covenants  so  framed  as  to  place  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  receiving  many  whose  Christian  character  is 
unhesitatingly  acknowledged,"  and  declaring  that  according 
both  to  the  New  Testament  standards  and  the  history  of  Con- 
gregationalism, ' '  the  creed  of  a  church  is  to  be  looked  upon  not 
so  much  in  the  light  of  a  test  as  of  testimony ;  and  that  its  true 
use  consists'  not  in  its  furnishing  a  standard  by  which  to  esti- 
mate in  all  cases  the  character  of  one  who  claims  to  be  a 
follower  of  Christ,  but  in  its  being  a  means  of  maintaining  in 
the  world  those  views  which  it  is  believed  that  Scripture  was 
designed  to  teach,  in  distinction  from  the  errors  which  its  lan- 
guage may  be  perverted  to  support. '  ' 

Whether  this  felicitous  phrase  originated  with  Professor 
Smith,  the  present  writer  does  not  know :  but  that  he  stated  the 

292 


A  TESTIMONY,   NOT  A   TEST  293 

historic  position  of  Congregationalism,  there  is  abundant  tes- 
timony. 

The  Preface  to  the  Savoy  Confession  says :  ' '  Confessions, 
when  made  by  a  company  of  professors  of  Christianity,  jointly 
meeting  to  that  end,  .  .  the  most  genuine  and  natural  use  of 
such  is,  that,  under  the  form  of  words,  they  expi'css  the  sub- 
stance of  the  same  common  salvation.  .  .  .  And,  accordingly, 
such  a  transaction  is  to  be  looked  upon  but  as  a  meet  or  fit 
medium  whereby  to  express  that  their  common  faith  and  salva- 
tion, and  in  no  way  to  be  made  use  of  as  an  imposition  upon 
any.  Whatever  is  of  force  or  constraint,  in  matters  of  this 
nature,  causeth  them  to  degenerate  froyn  the  name  and  nature 
of  confessions,  and  turns  tliem  from,  being  confessions  of  faith 
into  impositions  and  exactions  of  faitJi; ....  there  being  noth- 
ing that  tends  more  to  heighten  dissensions  among  brethren 
than  to  deteraiine  and  adopt  the  matter  of  their  difference 
under  so  high  a  title  as  to  be  an  article  of  our  faith. ' '  Upham 
maintained  that  churches  "have  a  right  to  say  on  what  condi- 
tions others,  either  individuals  or  bodies  of  men,  shall  share 
their  fellowship;"  saying,  "They  can  enter  into  fellowship 
with  others  ^\ith  whose  prinicples  they  more  nearly  agree." 
— Rat.  Dis.  57.  But  Cummings  answ^ered,  "This  reasoning 
seems  to  hold  only  on  the  supposition  that  churches  are  strictly 
voluntary,  in  distinction  from  divinely  instituted,  bodies.  If 
churches  are  of  divine  institution,  then  all  true  Christians 
have  a  right  to  share  in  them  all  the  privileges  of  the  sons  of 
God.  It  is  their  Father's  table  and  their  Father's  Church; 
and  what  right  have  their  brethren  to  debar  them?" 

Richard  Mather  says:  "They  may  have  a  platform  by 
way  of  profession  of  their  faith,  but  not  a  binding  rale  of  faith 
and  practice.  ...  If  so,  then  they  ensnare  men  attending  more 
to  the  form  of  doctrine  delivered  from  the  authority  of  the 
church.  .  .  .  than  to  the  examining  thereof  according  to  the 
Scriptures"  (Church  Covenant,  64).  Bui'ton,  in  his  Rejoin- 
der to  Piynne's  Reply  to  his  Answer  to  Twelve  Considerable 


294    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Questions,  says:  "It  is  the  greatest  possible  tyranny  over 
men's  souls  to  make  other  men's  judgments  the  rule  of  my 
conscience. "(p.  19).  Thomas  Goodwin,  in  his  letter  to  John 
Goodwin,  is  equally  explicit  on  this  point:  so  is  Hubbard,  in 
his  History  of  Massachusetts.  John  Cotton,  in  his  Answer  to 
Ball,  says:  ''When  a  church  is  suspected  and  slandered  with 
corrupt  and  unsound  doctrine,  thej^  have  a  call  from  God  to 
set  forth  a  public  confession  of  their  faith ;  but  to  prescribe  the 
same  as  the  confession  of  faith  of  that  church  to  their  pos- 
terity, or  the  prescribed  confession  of  faith  of  one  church  to 
be  a  form  and  pattern  unto  others,  sad  experience  has*  showed 
what  a  snare  it  has  been  to  both."  Even  Herle,  in  his  contro- 
versy with  Mather  and  Tompson,  disclaims  "such  a  fan  to 
purge  the  religious  floor  with,  and  setting  the  sun  by  the  dial. ' ' 
The  Apologetical  Narrative  of  the  Independents  in  the  West- 
minster Assembly  asserts  that  their  rules  of  admission  were 
such  "as  would  take  in  any  member  of  Christ.  We  took 
measure  of  no  man's  holiness  by  his  opinions,  whether  con- 
curring with  us  or  adverse  from  us."  Baillie,  in  his  Letters 
to  Spang,  says:  "Thomas  Goodwin,  at  that  meeting,  declared 
that  he  cannot  refuse  to  be  members,  nor  censure  when  mem.- 
bers,  any  for  Anabaptism,  Lutheranism,  or  any  errors  which 
are  not  fundamental  and  maintained  against  knowledge." 
The  same  principles  are  advanced  by  Cotton,  in  his  Holiness  of 
Church  Members ;  and  in  the  preface  to  the  Savoy  Confession. 
John  Owen  saj^s :  ' '  We  will  never  deny  the  communion  to 
any  person  whose  duty  it  is  to  desire  it."  Samuel  Mather 
shows  that  all  Christians  ought  to  be  admitted  to  any  of 
Christ 's  churches.  Cotton  Mather  says  :  ' '  The  churches  of 
New  England  make  only  vital  piety  the  teimis  of  communion 
among  them ;  and  they  all,  ^vith  delight,  see  godly  Congrega- 
tionalists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Anti-pedobaptists, 
and  Lutherans,  all  members  of  the  same  churches,  and  sitting 
together  without  offence  in  the  same  holy  mountain,  at  the 
same  holy  table. ' '    Speaking  of  the  use  then  made  of  creeds,  he 


A  TESTIMONY,   NOT  A   TEST  295 

says  of  candidates  for  admission:  "To  the  relation  of  his  re- 
ligious experience  is  added  either  a  confession  of  faith  of  the 
person 's  own  composing,  or  a  briefer  intimation  of  what  pub- 
licly-received confession  he  chooses  to  adhere  to."  He  says: 
"It  is  the  design  of  these  churches  to  make  the  terms  of  com- 
munion run  as  parallel  as  may  be  with  the  terms  of  salvation. 
A  charitable  consideration  of  nothing  but  true  piety,  in  admit- 
ting to  evangelical  privileges,  is  a  glory  which  the  churches  of 
New  England  would  lay  claim  to."  Dr.  Watts,  in  his  Terms 
of  Christian  Communion,  shows  that  the  churches  ma.y  not 
appoint  new  rules  of  admission;  as  a  general  rule  should 
admit  all  who  make  a  credible  profession  of  religion ;  exclude 
no  sheep  of  the  fold,  and  admit  no  unclean  beast;  take  heed 
not  to  make  the  door  of  admission  larger  or  straiter  than 
Christ  made  it ;  and  that  nothing  be  in  their  covenant  but  what 
is  essential  to  common  Christianity.  He  has  a  list  of  substan- 
tial articles,  all  very  fundamental,  save  that  of  the  mode  and 
subjects  of  baptism,  which  he  argues  (whether  consistently  or 
no)  is  fundamental  to  the  peace  of  the  church.  And  he  shows 
that  the  Christian  church  flourished  more  than  a  hundred 
years  without  any  set  creeds,  and  argues  their  utter  insuf- 
ficiency, because  they  often  have  the  assent  neither  of  the 
head  nor  the  heart.  So  late  as  1801,  Dr.  Worcester's  church 
in  Fitchburg  say,  in  defence  of  their  creed,  if  the  candidate 
dissented  from  any  article,  and  it  did  not  appear  to  result 
from  enmity  to  the  truth,  he  was  admitted ;  "for  it  was  never 
designed  to  exclude  any  from  communion  Avho  appear  to  be 
real  subjects  of  experimental  religion."  Thomas  Goodwin 
shows  that  we  are  to  bear  Avith  Christians  for  the  sake  of 
Christ  that  is  in  them,  and  therefore  tolerate  them  as  Chris- 
tians, but  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith.  Dr.  Kippis,  in  his 
Vindication  of  Dissenting  Ministers,  says:  "We  dissent  be- 
cause we  deny  the  right  of  any  bod.v  of  men,  whether  civil  or 
ecclesiastical,  to  impose  human  creeds,  tests,  or  articles ;  and 
because  we  think  it  our  duty  not  to  submit  to  any  such  imposi- 


296    CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

tion,  but  to  protest  against  it  as  a  violation  of  our  essential 
liberty  to  judge  and  act  for  ourselves  in  matters  of  religion. ' ' 
He  adds:  ''They  will  not  subscribe  to  human  forms,  which 
themselves  believe,  when  such  formularies  are  pressed  upon 
them  by  an  incompetent  and  usurped  authority."  He  shows 
that  ministers,  believers  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  voted 
that  no  human  composition  or  interpretation  of  that  doctrine 
should  be  made  a  part  of  the  Articles  of  Advice  in  1719.  Ply- 
mouth Church  covenanted  "to  walk  in  a  church  state,  in  all 
God 's  ways  made  known  or  to  be  made  known  to  them.  They 
reserved  an  entire  perpetual  liberty  of  searching  the  inspired 
records,  and  forming  both  their  principles  and  practices  from 
those  discoveries  they  should  make  therein,  without  imposing 
them  on  others.  Milford  Church,  Conn.,  founded  in  1640,  had 
a  covenant ;  but  no  mention  is  made  of  any  confession  of  faith. 
The  original  covenant  of  the  First  Church  in  Boston,  after  the 
preamble,  is  simply  this:  "Do  solemnly  and  deliberately,  as 
in  Christ's  holy  presence,  bind  ourselves  to  walk,  in  all  our 
ways,  according  to  the  rule  of  the  gospel,  in  all  sincere  con- 
formity to  his  holy  ordinances,  and  in  mutual  love  and  respect 
to  each  other,  so  far  as  God  shall  give  us  grace."  Every 
member  wrote  his  own  confession  in  his  own  way,  and  to  the 
satisfaction  of  those  who  received  him  into  their  fellowship. 
At  first  the  churches  of  New  England  were  usually  constituted 
with  no  other  form  than  a  covenant.  The  author  of  Seasonable 
Thoughts  on  Creeds  and  Articles  of  Faith  as  Religious  Tests, 
asks :  "  Do  not  the  f ramers  and  advocates  of  creeds,  as  tests  of 
orthodoxy  and  Christian  communion,  seem  to  confess  that  they 
are  not  satisfied  with  the  Bible  on  this  subject?  ...  If  creeds 
are  necessary  to  guard  against  heretics,  the  Bible  is  not  a  suf- 
ficient rule.  .  .  .  Do  they  operate,  have  they  operated,  or  are 
they  likely  ever  to  operate,  as  an  effectual  preventive  to  un- 
principled and  heretical  men  gaining  admission  into  a  Chris- 
tian church?"  Dr.  Eckley  shows  that  if  creeds  could  be  made 
perfect,  then  nothing  would  be  necessaiy  but  to  learn  the 


A  TESTIMONY,   NOT  A  TEST  297 

creed.  Foxcroft,  in  his  Century  Seraion,  says:  "The  Con- 
gregationalists  were  for  having  the  rule  of  Christianity  Ije  the 
rule  of  conformity."  Morton,  in  his  New  England  Memorial, 
says:  "Higginson's  Confession  of  Faith  and  Covenant  was 
acknowledged  only  as  a  direction  pointing  to  that  faith  and 
covenant  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  therefore  no 
man  was  confined  to  that  form  of  words,  but  only  to  the  sub- 
stance and  scope  of  the  matter  contained  therein;  and,  for 
the  circumstantial  manner  of  joining  the  church,  it  was  or- 
dered according  to  the  wisdom  and  faithfulness  of  the  elders, 
together  with  the  liberty  and  ability  of  any  person.  Hence  it 
was  that  some  were  admitted  by  expressing  their  consent  to 
that  written  confession  of  faith  and  covenant ;  others  did  an- 
swer questions  about  the  principles  of  religion,  that  were 
publicly  propounded  to  them ;  some  did  present  their  confes- 
sion in  writing,  which  was  read  for  them ;  and  some,  that  were 
able  and  willing,  did  make  their  own  confession,  in  their  own 
words  and  way. ' '  Letchf ord,  in  his  Plain  Dealing,  shows  veiy 
minutely  that  profession  of  faith  was  made  either  by  question 
and  answer  or  else  by  solemn  speech,  as  to  the  sum  and  tenor 
of  the  Christian  faith  laid  down  in  the  Scriptures,  the  officers 
in  the  church,  and  their  duties.  Such  is  the  evidence  of  one 
who  complained  of  their  too  great  strictness,  because  they  re- 
quired evidence  of  experimental  religion.  He  spoke  that  which 
he  knew,  and  testified  that  he  had  seen.  ' '  Such  testimonies, ' ' 
says  Cummings,  from  whose  painstaking  collections  the  fore- 
going are  selected,  ''ought  to  set  for  ever  at  rest  the  notion 
that  Higginson's  Confession  of  Faith  was  used  as  a  constitu- 
tion of  the  church  and  a  test  of  admission."  John  Corbett 
says:  "We  need  no  human  addition  to  sacred  things,  nor  any 
mutable  circumstances  to  be  terms  of  fellowship."  Cotton 
Mather,  in  his  Letter  to  Lord  Barrington,  says:  "No  church 
on  earth  so  notably  makes  the  terms  of  communion  run  parallel 
with  the  terms  of  salvation.  The  only  declared  basis  of  union 
among  them  is  that  vital  piety  in  which  all  good  men,  of  differ- 


298     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ent  names,  are  ■united."  Robinson  reminds  the  Plymouth 
immigrants,  on  parting,  that  it  is  an  article  of  their  church 
covenant  'Ho  be  ready  to  receive  whatever  of  truth  shall  be 
made  known  to  them  from  the  written  word  of  God."  The 
Rev.  C.  Upham  shows  that  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  of 
Congregationalism  not  to  impose  a  test,  which  may  not  be  com- 
plied with  by  all  sincere  Christians.  In  a  similar  manner 
argue  Dr.  West  (Anniversary  Plymouth  Sermon,  58,  59), 
President  Stiles  (Convention  Sermon,  45),  John  Howe 
(Works,  459,  931),  and  Mauduit  (Case  of  Dissenting  Minis- 
ters, 34,  35 ) ,  "  It  was  not  the  use  of  creeds,  but  making  them 
separate  acknowledged  Christians,  Avhich  our  fathers  con- 
demned, ' '  says  Cummings.  ' '  Their  confessions  were  orthodox 
explicit  manifestoes,  not  tests  of  admission.  Some  churches  at 
this  day  have  similar  creeds,  but  require  assent  only  to  the 
substance  of  them ;  Avhile  others,  making  tests  of  their  creeds, 
have  frittered  them  doAAai  to  the  standard  of  those  Aveakcst  in 
the  faith.  Few  churches  have  too  high  a  standard  of  admis- 
sion, but  it  should  consist  only  in  true  faith  and  vital  godli- 
ness." Mitchell  says:  ' * Congregationalists  object  to  creeds 
being  used  as  tests,  or  set  up  as  standards  to  enforce  uniform- 
ity. ...  As  articles  of  peace  and  bonds  of  union,  we  fear  they 
create  divisions  as  often  as  they  prevent  them;"  and,  speaking 
of  some  "who  think  that  heaven  and  earth  should  pass,  rather 
than  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  exact  wording  of  the  prescribed 
creed  ....  be  not  fulfilled,"  he  says:  "Any  brother  that 
offends  in  one  point  they  hold  to  be  guilty  of  all  ,and  obnoxious 
to  ecclesiastical  censure.  They  put  their  strait-jacket  upon  the 
limbs  of  Charity,  who  loves  freedom  as  she  loves  truth,  and 
make  their  narrow  views  the  jail-limits,  within  which  she  walks 
afflicted  and  confined.'  ' 

The  election  of  Henry  Ware  as  Hollis  Professor  of  Divin- 
ity in  Halyard  in  1805  led  to  a  violent  controversy  with  a 
demand  for  a  tightening  of  creed  conditions.  The  protest 
against  Prof.  Ware's  election,  because  of  his  known  advanced 


A  TESTIMONY,   NOT   A  TEST  299' 

views,  was  sounded  by  Professor  Pearson,  a  member  of  the 
corporation,  and  espoused  by  Dr.  Jedediah  Morae  of  Charles- 
town,  in  a  pamphlet  of  "True  Reasons."  The  Corporation 
replied  to  his  demand  that  Prof.  Ware  undergo  examination 
as  to  his  orthodoxy, — 

"That  this  attempt  to  introduce  a  categorical  examination 
into  the  creed  of  a  candidate  was  a  barbarous  relic  of  inquisi- 
torial power,  alien  alike  from  the  genius  of  our  government, 
and  the  spirit  of  our  people. ' ' 

Quotations  like  the  foregoing  could  be  multiplied,  and 
the  only  reason  that  the  already  large  number  of  declarations 
on  this  point  is  not  many  times  larger  is  that  this  principle 
was  undisputed  in  early  Congregationalism.  In  an  able  article 
in  the  Congregational  Quarterly  in  1869,  Dr.  A.  H.  Quint  thus 
summarized  the  usage  of  our  denomination: 

1.  Doctrinal  beliefs  are,  not  the  life  itself.  That  life  i^  love. 
"He  that  loveth  is  born  of  God."  But  nothing  is  easier,  as  history 
abundantly  proves,  than  to  mistake  orthodoxy  for  faith.  It  is  a 
question  whether  the  custom  of  our  churches  in  baptizing  candidates 
immediately  after  their  profession  of  doctrinal  orthodoxy,  instead  of 
after  the  covenant  of  faith,  does  not  lie  in  the  direction  of  this  mis- 
take. The  Articles  of  Faith,  assent  to  which  is  required  of  candi- 
dates, are  not  a  confession  of  faith  in  Christ.  Many  unconverted 
persons  "believe"  them  all.  The  "covenant"  is  the  proper  avouch- 
ment  of  faith  in  Christ.  But  baptism  after  the  creed,  as  though 
it  were  the  sign  and  seal  of  orthodoxy,  instead  of  after  the  cove- 
nant, as  the  sign  and  seal  of  faith  (see  Shorter  Catechism,  94,  95), 
tends  to  obscure  the  distinction  between  orthodoxy  and  faith.  (See 
report  of  a  committee  on  this  subject  in  the  Minutes  of  the  General 
Association  of  Massachusetts,  1867.)  The  brutal  violence  of  the 
"Robber  Council"  at  Ephesus,  assembled  in  449  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion of  Christ's  nature,  or  natures;  the  fierceness  with  which  theo- 
logians have  fought  over  the  words  of  redeeming  love,  "This  is  my 
body,  given  for  you,"  attest  how  easy  it  is  to  cover  total  lack  of  the 
spirit  with  a  cloak  of  zeal  for  the  letter.  Indeed,  it  is  not  easy  to 
think  kindly  of  those  whose  religious  belief  we  detest.  Nor  is  the 
odium  theologicum  as  yet  a  fossil  curiosity,  even  among  "liberal" 
Christians.  "Without  charity  I  am  nothing."  "If  any  man  love  God, 
the  same  is  known  of  him." 

2.  The  life  only  can  keep,  assimilate,  work  up  the  doctrine. 
Doctrine  without  life  is  food  in  the  stomach  of  a  corpse,  sure  to 
corrupt.  Let  the  religion  of  a  creed  die  out,  and  its  theology  will 
change.  Thus  rose  the  Socinian  apostasy  in  Masachusetts,  as  has 
been  thoroughly  demonstrated.     (Clark's  History  of  the  Congrega- 


300     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

tional  Churches  of  Masachusetts.)  When  we  see  the  clej-gy  of  the 
Anglican  Church  subscribing  to  her  Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  ex- 
hibiting every  phase  of  belief  from  orthodoxy  to  rationalism,  from 
high  Protestantism  to  high  Ritualism,  we  learn  just  how  much  re- 
liance can  be  placed  on  doctrinal  tests  for  securing  consistency  and 
purity  of  faith.  Better  the  apostolic  way, — visiting  the  widows  and 
fatherless  in  their  aflaiction.  Charity  which  "never  faileth"  (Gal.  v. 
4;  2  Pe,t.  iii.  17)  keeps  "unspotted  from  the  world"  better  than  any 
subscription.  "Knowledge  putteth  up,  but  charity  buildeth  up." 
Yet  we  would  keep  the  doctrinal  test  also,  but  in  its  proper  place 
and  use. 

3.  Disparagement  of  precision  in  doctrine  betokens  a  low  or 
unhealthy  state  of  the  life.  Be  the  creed  kept  free  from  antiquated 
phraseology  like  a  tree  from  dead  wood;  reformulated  from  time 
to  time,  as  the  Christian  consciousness  attains  to  clearer  thought 
and  more  exact  expressions;  and  let  it  be  kept  also  in  its  legitimate 
use,  so  as  to  disfranchise  no  true,  believer,  and  it  argues  a  lack  of 
iron  In  the  blood  to  be  impatient  of  hearing  it  read,  willing  to  let 
truth  be  ambiguously  and  vaguely  held,  unfriendly  to  creeds  in 
general.  A  little  persecution  would  be  good  for  such  good  people.  If 
they  lived  in  a  martyr  period,  they  would  soon  define  precisely  what 
they  did  and  what  they  did  not  believe.  And  those  of  them  that 
loved  the  truth  well  enough  to  die  for  it  would  want  to  state  that 
costly  truth  so  truly  that  no  unbeliever  could  profess  it  without 
falsehood.  The  martyr  church  did  that  in  making  the  Creed  of 
Nicaea  such  that  no  Arian  could  honestly  subscribe  it.  That  dis- 
tinguished New  England  orator  who  some  time  since  disparaged 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  a  "string  of  glittering  general- 
ities," had  he  lived  on  into  the  sacrifices\  of  the  civil  war,  would 
doubtless  have  recanted  what  he  said  in  the  degenerate  period  pre- 
ceding it.  And  those  "liberal"  Christians  who  are  so  hard  upon 
Creeds,  were  they  martyred  a  little,  would  learn — that  is,  those  that 
could  abide  the  lesson — the  preciousness  of  the  truth  which  the 
heroes  of  the  faith  have  bequeathed  as  a  blood-bought  inheritance 
to  their  posterity. 

4.  Imperfection  in  doctrinal  belief  should  debar  no  true  Chris- 
tian from  church-fellowship.  To  exclude  a  child  from  school  for 
ignorance,  to  look  for  the  fruit  as  soon  as  the  root,  is  preposterous. 
Where  "the  power  of  godliness"  is,  there  "the  form"  will  come  under 
favoring  circumstances  in  time,  as  the  skeleton  develops  and  hard- 
ens into  proper  symmetry  with  the  lapse  of  childhood  into  manhood. 
Not  the  least  of  the  "plagues" — mischiefs — that  come  upon  those 
who  add  to  the  things  written  in  the  book  is  the  discouragement  of 
the  children  from  coming  early  into  thel  church.  Assent  to  a  creed 
is  valueless,  if  made  on  the  authority  of  another  mind;  and  yet  it 
is  beyond  the  ability  of  most  children  to  assent,  understandingly, 
to  the  theological  creeds  of  some  of  our  churches.  And  the  closer 
our  observance,  with  all  sorts  of  persons,  of  the  apostolic  terms  of 
church  fellowship,  the  better  for  the  church  and  the  doctrine.  Every 
regenerate  person  has  a  Divine  right  to  church  fellowship.  "Grace 
be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity," — if 
grace,  then,  by  orderly  approach,  the  means  of  grace.  Cotton  Mather 


A  TESTIMONY,   NOT  A  TEST  301 

says:  "The  churches  of  New  England  make  only  vital  piety  the 
terms  of  communion  among  them."  (Rat.  Dis.  Introd.)  John  Owen 
says:  "We  will  never  deny  the  communion  to  any  person  whose 
duty  it  is  to  desire  it."  (Puritans  and  their  Principles,  295.)  Sam- 
uel Mather  shows  that  all  Christians  ought  to  be  admitted  to  any 
of  Christ's  churches.  (Apology,  34,  and  elsewhere.)  Dr.  Watts,  in 
his  "Terms  of  Christian  Communion,"  shows  that  the  churches 
should,  as  a  general  rule,  admit  all  who  make  a  credible  profession 
of  religion,  take  heed  not  to  make  the  door  of  admission  larger  or 
straiter  than  Christ  made  it,  and  that  nothing  be  in  their  covenant 
but  what  is  essential  to  common  Christianity.  The  principle  of  as- 
similation, every  man  "to  his  own  place,"  together  with  the  strict 
maintenance  of  orthodoxy  and  piety  in  the  pulpit,  will  be  found 
as  potent  to  produce  all  desirable  uniformity  of  belief  as  any  initia- 
tory tests  in  mere  theology.  We  say,  then,  in  the  golden  words  of 
Cotton  Mather,  let  "the  terms  of  communion  run  parallel  with  the 
terms  of  salvation." 

Dr.  George  M.  Boynton  said  on  this  subject: 

That  which  constitutes  a  Congregational  church  is  its  covenant, 
in  which  its  members,  on  the  basis  of  common  convictions  as  to 
truth  and  duty,  and  some  unanimity  of  thought  and  purpose  as  to 
the  best  way  of  expressing  that  truth  and  discharging  the  duty, 
agree  on  certain  modes  of  action. 

It  Is  customary  for  a  Congregational  church  to  adopt  a  creed, 
as  an  expression  of  the  beliefs  in  which  its  members  agree  and  as 
the  basis  of  their  common  life.  They  may  adopt  some  form  of  sound 
words  prepared  by  others,  or  they  may  phrase  a  creed  for  them- 
selves. There  is  no  Congregational  creed  prepared  or  adopted  by  a 
general  council  which  all  churches  in  the  fellowship  must  adopt.  In 
the  early  days  that  generally  assented  to  was  the  Westminister 
Confession  as  modified  in  the  Savoy  Confession  (1658,  adopted  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  1680)  containing  what  seemed  to  be  a 
comprehensive  and  fitting  expression  of  their  faith.  Few  Congre- 
gational churches,  if  any,  retain  that  ancient  symbol,  and  fewer  still 
would  be  willing  to  adopt  it  now.  It  is  properly  regarded  as  an 
ancient  battle-flag,  under  which,  in  their  day,  the  fathers  lived  and 
fought  valiantly,  and  which  the  sons  should  reverently  place  among 
the  trophies  of  the  past.  It  is  the'  flag  to  which  we  should  most  of 
us  have  rallied  in  its  time.  It  does  not  represent  the  issues  of  to- 
day.    (George  M.  Boynton,  "The  Congregational  Way,"  pp.  52,  3.) 

The  practice  of  the  English  Congregational  churches  is 
in  full  accord  with  our  own  in  the  matter  of  receiving  all 
Christians  into  fellowship.  On  this  point  Dr.  Dale,  says,  giv- 
ing reasons  why  all  Christians  should  be  membei's  of  the 
Church,  and  why  no  Christian  should  be  excluded,  says, — 


'302     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

(I.)  Christ  founded  the  Church  for  all  that  believe  in  Him. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  account  of  the  Church  contained  in  the  New 
Testament,  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  Church  itself,  to 
suggest  that  Christ  required  any  other  qualification  for  membership 
than  faith  in  Himself.  The  Church  is  His  society,  not  ours.  It  is 
a  society  for  His  brethi'en — for  all  His  brethren;  for  His  friends — 
for  all  His  friends.  To  impose  conditions  of  church  membership 
that  exclude  any  of  those  who  are  the  brethren  and  friends  of  Christ 
is  to  defeat  the  purpose  for  which  He  founded  the  Church. 

(II.)  Christ  has  made  it  the  duty  of  all  that  believe  in  Him  to 
enter  the  Church.  By  refusing  to  receive  any  of  those  who  believe 
in  Christ,  a  church  prevents  them  from  fulfilling  an  obligation  which 
Christ  has  imposed  upon  them. 

(III.)  The  blessings  conferred  by  the  church  fellowship  are 
meant  for  all  that  believe  in  Christ.  If  men  are  the  friends  of  Christ, 
we  do  them  a  cruel  wrong  by  refusing  them  a  place  as  guests  at 
His  table.  If  they  are  the  brethren  of  Christ,  we  inflict  a  grave 
injury  on  their  spiritual  life  by  refusing  to  receive  them  with  broth- 
erly affection  and  confidence.  As  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  intended 
for  men  of  all  races  and  all  lands,  and  cannot  be  deliberately  with- 
held from  any  man  without  guilt,  the  strength,  the  safety,  the  bless- 
edness, and  whatever  other  blessings  come  from  membership  of  the 
Church  are  intended  for  all  that  have  received  the  Gospel. 

The  polity  of  every  church  has  its  roots  in  its  theology,  in  its 
conceptions  of  the  relations  between  God  and  man,  and  of  the  nature 
of  the  Christian  redemption.  Congregationalism,  in  affirming  that 
only  those  who  have  personal  faith  in  Christ  should  be  members 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  asserts  in  its  polity  the  unique  and  infinite, 
importance  which  is  attributed  to  personal  faith  by  the  whole  con- 
tents of  the  Christian  Revelation.  But,  if  any  other  qualification 
for  church  membership  is  demanded,  the  force  of  this  testimony  to 
the  unique  and  infinite  importance  of  personal  faith  in  Christ  is 
broken.  Faith  in  Christ  is  the  only  condition  of  the  remission  of  sins 
and  of  eternal  salvation;  this  great  truth  is  obscured  if  a  church 
insists  on  anything  besides  faith  in  Christ  as  a  condition  of  church 
membership. — Dales  Manual  of  Congregational  Principles,  pp.  49-50. 

Dr.  A.  Hastings  Ross  has  been  quoted  as  favoring  creed 
tests  for  admission  of  members  and  ministers.  What  he  held 
was  that,  "The  church  creed  should  be  read  at  communion 
seasons,  but  members  should  be  admitted  on  their  assent  to  a 
simpler  form."  His  words  on  this  subject  may  be  given  in 
fuU: 

' '  Every  member  on  joining  the  church  publicly  assents  to 
a  creed ;  and  every  pastor  in  accepting  the  call  to  any  church 
makes  its  creed  a  part  of  his  covenant  and  contract  with  the 
said  church,  which  he  can  not  honorably  break  by  preaching 


A  TESTIMONY,   NOT  A  TEST  303 

another  doctrine.  Every  church  and  minister  on  joining  an 
association  either  expressly  or  impliedly  assents  to  a  creed 
and  covenant,  both  oi  the  district  body  and  of  the  state  and 
national  bodies.  In  this  way  any  doctrinal  unsoundness  in 
church  or  minister  is  likely  to  be  detected.  There  is  no  slight- 
ing of  creeds.  Our  general  confessions,  it  is  true,  are  mere 
declarations,  to  which  no  formal  assent  is  required ;  for  assent 
to  church  creeds,  associational  bases,  and  inquiry  by  committee 
or  council  are  sufficient  to  secure  soundness  in  the  faith.  The 
Congregational  churches  of  England  are  less  rigid  than  those 
in  America  in  this  regard  of  doctrinal  tests. 

"The  creedal  tests  of  admission  to  church  membership 
should  not,  however,  go  beyond  the  Scriptural  requirement  of 
"repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ"  (Acts  20:  21).  Whom  the  Lord  receives  in  regenera- 
tion his  churches  are  to  receive  (Rom.  14:  1-5).  The  creed 
and  covenant  for  admission  should  be  constructed  on  this 
principle;  and  hence  no  elaborate  articles  of  faith  or  rigid 
examination  should  stand  as  tests  of  admission.  There  should 
be,  therefore,  a  form  of  admission  to  membership  separate 
from  the  creed  of  the  church,  and  much  more  simple,  that 
childi'en  and  the  weakest  believer  may  enter  the  nurturing 
home  of  the  saints  and  be  trained  in  the  church  up  to  the 
doctrinal  perfection  of  its  creed.  The  church  creed  should  be 
read  at  communion  seasons,  but  members  should  be  admitted 
on  their  assent  to  a  simpler  form.  This  position  was  taken  in 
the  Ohio  Manual  in  1874,  and  in  the  creed  and  confession  of 
faith  prepared  by  the  commission  of  the  National  Council,  and 
issued  in  1883.  Our  ehurchesi,  in  placing  an  elaborate  creed 
as  the  condition  of  church  membership,  depart  from  their 
principles  and  early  practice." — The  Church-Kingdom,  pp. 
347,  8. 


VI.    A  SYMPOSIUM  ON  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP 

Congregational  church  law  is  essentially  a  law  of  usage. 
No  one  man  and  no  one  group  of  men  determines  what  is  and 
what  is  not  good  regular  Congregationalism.  In  order  that 
this  work  may  represent  as  thoroughly  as  possible  not  only 
the  views  and  experiences  of  its  author,  but  also  the  opinions 
and  practices  of  our  churches  and  ministers  generally,  I  have 
asked  ministers  of  our  leading  churches  in  different  parts  of 
the  country  to  contribute  to  a  symposium  concerning  creeds 
and  church  membership.  These  ministers  were  asked  to  state 
in  their  own  language  either  the  custom  of  their  respective 
churches  with  reference  to  creed  subscription,  or  their  own 
judgment  of  the  place,  if  any,  which  it  ought  to  occupy  in 
receiving  members'  into  a  Congregational  church.  In  particu- 
lar they  were  asked  to  say  whether  in  their  judgment  and  in 
the  practice  of  their  several  churches,  a  local  church  should 
consider  itself  at  liberty  to  refuse  membership  to  any  Chris- 
tian man  even  if  he  could  not  conscientiously  accept  its  con- 
fession of  faith.  I  give  herewith  the  answers,  as  I  have  re- 
ceived them. 

CREEDS  VITAL  TO  FAITH 

A  creed  is  the  reasoned  and  rational  explication  of  the 
Christian  faith  and  experience  of  an  individual  or  a  church. 
I  cannot  conceive  of  either  a  creedless  individual  or  a  creed- 
less  church,  unless  it  be  one  which  is  either  unthinking  or  ir- 
rational. The  more  vital  the  faith,  the  more  comprehensive 
and  profound  the  experience,  the  more  long  and  strong  will 
be  the  creed,  provided  always  the  man  does  not  cease  to  think. 

304 


A  SYMPOSIUM  ON  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP  305 

If  he  tMnks,  and  if  his  Christian  faith  and  life  be  ever  grow- 
ing, he  must  explicate  the  results  of  that  faith  and  experience 
in  such  fashion  as  not  to  stultify  his  reason. 

The  early  church  made  a  distinction,  a  very  valid  and 
helpful  distinction,  between  a  confession  of  faith  and  a  rule  of 
faith.  The  latter  is  what  is  commonly  called  a  creed,  as  the 
great  creeds  of  the  Christian  ages,  or  as  most  of  the  creeds  in 
use  in  our  individual  Congregational  churches.  They  have 
been  such  creeds  as  have  been  defined  above.  They  have 
changed  from  generation  to  generation,  from  body  to  body, 
as  indeed  they  must  if  they  are  to  be  the  utterance  of  a  living 
faith  and  experience.  Each  individual  Christian  will  have 
its  own.  Each  individual  church  -will  have  its  own. 
In  the  case  of  the  church  it  should  be  framed  to  rep- 
resent the  beliefs  of  the  church  as  a  whole,  so  that  any 
member  of  the  church  when  asked  what  his  church  believes 
could  point  at  once  to  the  creed  of  the  church,  adopted  by 
the  church,  modified  from  time  to  time,  if  need  be,  by  the 
church,  on  the  whole  believed  in  by  the  church  as  a  whole. 
As  for  the  name  for  such  a  church  creed  I  prefer  the  title  a 
standard,  rather  than  a  rule,  of  faith.  A  rule  most  commonly 
signifies  that  up  to  which  a  thing  or  person  must  come  or  be 
rejected;  a  standard  most  commonly  signifies  that  towards 
which  a  person  strives,  though  suffering  no  ill  results  if  he 
never  attains  it.  As  a  practical  pastor  I  did  not  rest  easy  till 
my  church  had  such  a  standard.  Should  I  return  to  the  pas- 
torate, I  should  not  rest  content  till  the  church  under  my 
leadership  had  such  a  standard.  It  would  be  a  part  of  my 
duty  to  attempt  to  lead  them  to  see  its  rationality  and  reason- 
ableness. It,  however,  should  be  no  part  of  my  duty  to  turn 
it  into  a  rule  of  faith,  to  compel  every  member  of  the  church 
to  accept  it  or  else  to  leave  the  church;  or  to  require  its  ac- 
ceptance by  any  person,  whatever  his  age,  intellectual  ability 
or  Christian  experience,  before  being  admitted  to  the  church. 
This  last  least  of  all. 


306     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

For  this  last,  i.e.,  for  admission  to  the  church,  there  is 
the  confession  of  faith.  What  should  that  contain  ?  The  least 
possible  and  account  the  confessor  a  real  Christian.  In  both 
churches  which  I  served  I  found  on  my  arrival  a  creed  of 
fourteen  articles,  a  creed  that  was  not  simply  a  standard,  but 
a  rule  of  faith,  a  fourteen-barred  i^ate  required  of  every-one, 
a  man  or  child,  wise  or  simple,  learned,  or  unlearned,  on  unit- 
ing with  the  church.  In  case  of  my  second  and  last  church, 
I  led,  and  my  church  readily  followed,  in  the  adoption  of  the 
Creed  of  1883  as  a  standard  of  faith,  and  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed  as  a  confession  of  faith.  As  regardsi  the  latter  I  would 
have  gone  further;  we  went  as  far  probably  as  was  wise 
under  the  conditions  then  existing.  My  minimum  and 
my  maximum  for  a  confession  of  faith  for  entrance  to 
the  church  is  found  in  Acts  20:  21:  "Repentance  towards 
God,  and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

I  cannot  conceive  of  a  person  being  a  Christian  who  is 
not  repentant  toward  God,  or  who  docs  not  believe  in  Jesus 
as  Christ,  i.e..  Saviour,  and  Lord,  or  Master  of  his  life.  Any 
person  who  can  accept  those  two,  three  if  you  please,  condi- 
tions, I  cannot  shut  out  of  Christ's  church.  As  pastor,  I 
tried,  and  should  try,  to  have  every  person  who  sought  to 
unite  with  the  church  thoroughly  understand  those  conditions, 
honestly  accept  them  and  loyally  live  up  to  them. 

This  for  entrance  to  the  church.  Then  begins  the  second 
gi'eat  duty  of  the  pastor  to  the  new  member,  so  to  teach  him 
and  lead  him  that  the  simple  faith  and  living  experience  rep- 
resented by  those  few  conditions  shall  grow  steadily  from 
more  to  more  of  faith,  of  experience,  and  also  of  rational  ex- 
plication of  that  faith  and  experience,  into  creed.  Of  this  pro- 
cess there  is  no  end  save  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  endless  ages  of  eternity. 

I  take  a  covenant  for  granted,  since  the  covenant  is  a 
sine  qua  non  of  a  Congregational  church.    The  content  of  the 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP  307 

covenant  is  quite  other  than  that  of  the  confession  of  faith  or, 
still  more,  of  the  standard  of  faith. 

Calvin  M.  Cla.rk,  D.  D. 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  Histoiy  in  Bangor  Theological 
Seminary. 

HONEST   CONFESSION   OF   CHRIST 

The  only  condition  of  membership  in  Plymouth  church 
is  an  honest  confession  of  Jesus  Christ  as  Redeemer  and  Lord 
and  a  sincere  purpose  to  follow  and  obey  Him.  The  church 
does  not  require  subscription  to  a  creed  nor  does  it  impose  a 
set  of  rules  upon  its  members.  It  places  each  member  on  his 
honor  before  God.  "To  his  own  IVCaster  he  standeth  or  fall- 
eth. ' '  Church  membership  is  not  an  assumption  of  perfection ; 
it  is  a  confession  of  need.  The  church  is  the  school  of  Christ 
in  which  all  are  undergraduates.  "One  is  your  teacher  and 
all  ye  are  brethren." 

Rev.  Noble  D.  Elderkin. 

Fonnerly  of  Plymouth  Church,  LaAvi-ence,  Kansas. 

RECEIVE  ALL  CHRISTIANS 

I  would  not  personally  exclude  any  from  church  member- 
ship, and  I  am  sure  any  church  would  not,  who  did  not  ac- 
cept our  creed  in  all  its  details.  I  am  sure  that  if  any  one 
should  present  a  statement  of  belief  of  his  own,  that  at  heart 
had  loyalty  and  devotion  to  Jesus  he  would  be  accepted.  We 
have  had  several  such  cases,  and  these  persons  have  become 
devoted  and  loyal  Christians  and  church  members.  Most  of 
the  people  who  come  into  our  Congregational  churches  have 
not  had  the  training  essential  for  theological  discriminations, 
and  creeds  have  little  meaning  (I  find)  or  value  to  them. 
Thus  the  follo"wing  pledge  given  and  received  by  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Denver,  Colorado  is  sufficient,  and 


308     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

more  impressive  than  the  reading  of  doctrinal  articles,  every 
phase  of  which  has  come  out  of  discussion  and  controversy  and 
has  meaning  only  to  the  scholar. 

Our  basis  of  church  membership  is  this:  We  promise  to  co- 
operate with  the  members  of  this  church  in  the  study  and  practice 
of  that  law  which  Christ  taught  as  supreme:  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  strezxgth,  and  with  all  thy  mind;  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

The  question  of  creeds  is  becoming  less  vital.  There  are 
mysteries  of  life  we  cannot  fathom.  There  are  forces  that 
we  constantly  use  we  cannot  define.  Christianity  is  one  of 
these.  The  mystery  of  Christ's  person  cannot  be  sounded,  but 
the  power  of  his  life  is  a  felt  and  measured  fact.  To-day  we 
approach  Christianity  not  simply  as  a  message  to  the  intelli- 
gence, but  as  a  moral  and  spiritual  force  that  has  infinite  life 
building  power.  Our  attitude  is  not  that  of  the  theologian 
whose  function  it  is  to  reason  and  explain ;  rather  that  of  the 
builder,  who  may  be  interested  in  the  geological  history  of  the 
stone  he  uses,  but  who  selects  it  because  with  it  he  can  erect 
his  building.  Thus  the  chief  value  and  approach  to  Christ  is 
not  through  the  mystery  of  his  person,  but  thro  his  working 
power  in  life.  Thus  we  are  to-day  approaching  a  Christian 
truth  from  its  operative,  rather  than  its  dogmatic  or  specula- 
trie  side. 

If  you  can  get  anything  out  of  this  you  are  lucky.  In 
any  case  best  wishes  for  you  in  all  your  thought  and  deeds. 

Rev.  Andrew  Ogilvie. 

First  Church,  Elkhart,  Indiana. 

DEPENDS   ON    WHICH   ARTICLE    HE   REJECTS 

Our  members  assent  to  both  the  creed  and  the  covenant, 
but  before  reading  the  creed  I  make  a  statement  that,  while 
we  emphasize  one's  life,  character  and  purpose,  we  also  hold 
certain  fundamental  beliefs  which  have  been  continuous  in 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH   MEMBERSHIP  309 

the  church 's  history.  I  have  dra-\vii  up  what  I  believe  to  be  a 
minimum  creed.  One  may  believe  much  more  than  I  have 
stated;  he  is  not  likely  to  believe  less  and  be  a  Christian. 
Christians  all  believe  in  God,  Christ  and  the  Spirit,  liut  they 
do  not  agree  as  to  how  these  are  related,  each  to  the  other. 
Personally  I  believe  that  God  and  the  Spirit  are  the  same, 
and  that  Christ  is  our  best  revelation  of  God.  But  if  the  more 
orthodox  wish  to  make  another  combination  and  a  different 
interpretation,  they  may  do  so.  Some  will  say.  Why  use  the 
terms  God  and  Spirit  if  they  are  the  same?  My  answer  would 
be,  for  convenience,  variety  of  expression,  and  to  describe  two 
different  aspects  or  functions  of  the  divine  person.  A  mini- 
mum creed  so  worded  that  each  may  find  the  essentials  and 
each  be  free  to  combine  and  interpret  its  elements  as  he  "\\nll — 
this  is  the  ideal!  Whether  we  should  admit  a  member  who 
dissents  from  the  creed  woiild  all  depend  on  which  article  of 
the  creed  he  refused  to  accept.  If  he  refused  to  say  that  he 
believed  in  God,  I  guess  we  would  keep  him  on  probation, 
wouldn  't  we  ?  But  if  he  said  that  he  did  not  like  my  statement 
that  the  church  is  a  divinely  appointed  institution,  I  would 
say  that  I  do  not  like  it  altogether  myself,  and  I  would  let 
him  enter  the  fold.  Rev.  Robert  E.  Brown. 

Second  Church,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

ASSENT  TO  CREED  NOT  REQUIRED 

Our  members  assent  to  the  covenant,  but  we  read  the 
creed  of  the  Council,  and  the  great  majority  of  the  members 
assent  to  it.  We  have  received  into  the  church  occasionally  a 
person  who  could  not  assent  to  eveiy  statement  of  a  ci-eed.  We 
require  full  assent  to  our  covenant.  If  a  Congregational 
church  has  a  creed  which  it  has  adopted,  I  do  not  see  how  it 
can  consistently  fail  to  try  to  live  up  to  it,  and  require  it  of  its 
members.  We  do  not  require  assent  to  the  creed  for  admission. 
Rev.  Charles  M.  Sheldon,  D.  D., 

Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  Topeka,  Kan. 


310  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND   COVENANTS 

ADMIT  ALL  CHRISTIANS 

The  members  of  our  church  do  not  assent  to  anything,  as 
is  distinctly  stated  on  the  third  page  of  the  covenant.  We 
have  no  creed  except  that  we  have  given  a  general  assent  to 
the  Kansas  City  creed,  and  I  think  it  probably  comes  closer 
than  any  other  to  expressing  the  average  sentiment  among 
our  people. 

My  own  judgment  is  that  the  Congregational  church 
should  admit  to  its  membership  those  who  are  Christian  in 
spirit  and  character,  without  any  reference  to  Creed  subscrip- 
tion. A  pastor  should  certainly  not  be  required  to  accomodate 
his  teachings  to  the  creed  of  his  local  church.  Indeed  how 
can  he  be  entitled  to  the  name  of  the  honest  man  if  he  is 
willing  to  do  so. 

Rev.  Carl  S.  Patton,  D.  D., 

First  Church,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

CREED  assent  LEADS  TO  EQUIVOCATION 

It  was  a  dark  day  for  religion  when  assent  to  a  creed  was 
first  made  a  condition  of  church  membership.  Creeds  are  the 
products  of  theological  disputes  and  are  framed  to  exclude  the 
outvoted  party.  No  creed  deals  with  the  things  that  Jesus 
was  most  interested  in.  No  creed  says,  * '  I  believe  in  practicing 
the  golden  rule,"  or  "I  believe  that  only  the  childlike  enter 
the  kingdom."  Creed  subscription  creates  no  difficulty  for 
the  thoughtless  or  the  insincere.  They  readily  assent  to  any- 
thing. But  the  thoughful  and  the  scrupulous  are  troubled 
and  kept  out  of  the  Church.  Thus  the  creed  requirement 
operates  to  lower  the  average  intelligence  and  sincerity  of  the 
membership. 

When  a  young  man,  shaking  off  the  temptations  of  the 
world,  decides  to  confess  Christ  before  men,  he  meets  a  pain- 
ful shock  when  he  finds  that  he  cannot  enter  the  church  Avith- 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH   MEMBERSHIP  311 

out  assenting  to  a  creed.  Many  have  come  into  my  study 
in  distress  over  this  matter.  I  say  to  them,  The  Church  is 
the  great  institution  for  continuing  the  work  of  Jesus  on  earth. 
You  cannot  do  without  the  Church  and  the  Church,  cannot  do 
without  you.  By  a  most  unfortunate  mistake  our  forebearers 
put  up  a  creed  on  the  church  door.  The  people  who  are  in 
now  do  not  clearly  understand  it,  and  do  not  heartil.y  believe 
all  it  seems  to  say,  but  they  suppose  that  it  belongs  at  the  door. 
In  fact  they  think  very  little  about  it.  You  will  have  to  as- 
sent to  it  in  some  vague  and  general  way  and  after  you  are 
in  nobody  will  be  likely  to  refer  to  it  again. 

This  is  not  pleasant  adivce  to  give  or  to  take ;  it  has  a 
Jesuitical  sound.    But  what  else  can  you  say  ? 

Prof.  W.  G.  Ballantine. 

Springfield,  Mass. 

THE    CHURCH   A   SCHOOL 

A  creed  is  an  achievement.  Before  one  can  say,  "I  be- 
lieve," one  must  have  learned.  The  historic  creeds  mark  the 
attainment  of  the  past,  and  indicate  an  end  the  present  and 
the  future  are  to  strive  to  reach — or  to  surpass. 

The  church  is  a  school,  inviting  and  inciting  souls  and 
minds  to  effort,  and  directing  their  way.  Its  true  require- 
ment must  be  the  purpose  and  the  effort  which  shall  achieve. 
The  only  proper  test  of  membership,  or  of  ministry,  is  this : 
Do  you  set  your  eyes  towards  the  heights  men  have  achieved 
and  seek  to  gain  or  to  surpass  those  heights  ? 

Rev.  Leslie  W.  Sprague. 

Sioux  Falls,  S.  D. 

TO  KNOW  AND  DO  GOD 'S  WaLL 

In  the  First  Church  of  Pasadena  members  assent  to  Cove- 
nant.   We  have  adopted  and  read  at  the  morning  service  the 


312     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

Kansas  City  National  Council  Creed.  "We  do  not  insist  on 
formal  assent  to  the  creed.  We  want  and  only  require  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  God. 

Eev.  D.  F.  Fox,  D.  D. 
First  Church  Pasadena,  Cal. 

BACK  TO  Christ's  way 

The  First  Church  of  Denver  leaves  its  members  free  to 
make  their  own  speculative  creeds.  The  members  assent  only 
to  the  covenant.  No  church  has  any  right  to  refuse  member- 
ship because  of  a  difference  of  speculative  opinion.  Christian- 
ity is  a  matter  of  purpose  rather  than  of  opinion.  The  loss  of 
practical  emphasis  on  life  is  a  gi^eater  tragedy  even  than  the 
loss  of  intellectual  liberty.  The  resultant  confusion  is  one  of 
the  main  causes  of  present  religious  impotence.  Of  course 
Christ's  example  is  absolutely  at  variance  with  the  prevailing 
custom  of  the  church.  I  wish  our  Congregational  churches 
would  come  back  to  Christ's  way. 

Kev.  Allan  A.  Tanner. 

Denver,  Colorado. 

HAS  DROPPED  THE  APOSTLES '  CREED 

The  Central  Congregational  Church  of  Boston  has  re- 
cently dropped  the  Apostles'  Creed  from  the  books  of  the 
church  and  has  replaced  it  in  the  sennce  for  the  reception  of 
members  by  a  Biblical  confession  of  faith  which  we  use  regu- 
larly every  Sunday  morning,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  there 
should  be  room  for  wide  latitude  of  opinion  in  the  individual 
interpretation  of  church  creeds  and  even  liberty  of  dissent  in 
the  matter  of  details.  Rev.  W.  L.  Sperry. 

Boston,  Mass. 

MENTAL  RESERVATIONS  ARE  ALLOWABLE 

We  omit  the  creed.  Emphasis  is  placed  on  the  covenant 
relation  and  fellowship.  Creedal  and  doctrinal  matters  are  left 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH   MEMBERSHIP  313 

to  the  individual  conscience.  I  cannot  see  how  any  church 
calling  itself  Christian  can  deny  membership  to  one  who  really 
is  a  Christian.  Christ  did  not  ask  His  disciples  to  assent  to  a 
creed.  He  did  not  propose  one  when  Pie  said,  "Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach."  The  individual  is  all  important, 
not  a  statement  of  faith.  The  latter  is  at  best  man-made,  par- 
tial and  incomplete.  Creeds  are  attempts  to  strike  an  average, 
to  express  the  collective  rather  than  an  individual  belief.  No 
church  can  find  or  make  a  creed  which  will  be  all  inclusive 
and  universal.  Allowance  must  always  be  made  for  mental 
reservations  and  private  interpretation.  The  great  historical 
creeds  were  polemical.  They  were  formulated  in  defense  of 
certain  doctrines  not  always  supported  by  Biblical  truth  as 
we  know  it  to-day.  They  embody  truth  as  seen  by  individuals 
of  a  long  ago  time.  Nevertheless,  these  creeds  are  noble,  useful 
and  impressive  helps  to  liturgical  and  formal  worship. 

Key.  Malcolm  Dana. 
Ottumwa,  Iowa. 

CREED   TESTS  DISLOYAL  TO  PURITANS 

A  creed  is  useful  in  expressing  what  a  church  does  believe, 
not  in  declaring  what  its  members  must  believe.  Every  one 
whose  ruling  purpose  is  to  do  the  will  of  God  is  eligible  to 
fellowship  in  any  Christian  church.  To  deny  this  is  to  dis- 
believe that  God  will  teach  His  children  who  come  to  Him  for 
knowledge  of  His  will  and  for  the  guidance  of  His  Spirit  to  do 
it. 

A  Congi'egational  church  which  refuses  to  admit  to  its 
fellowship  any  one  who  is  trying  to  live  the  life  of  Christ 
among  men  is  untnie  to  the  faith  of  our  fathers  who  founded 
our  body  of  churches  in  tlie  spirit  of  freedom,  and  counted  no 
cost  too  great  to  set  forth  before  mankind  the  fellowship  in 
Christ  of  those  who  sought  to  realize  the  liberty  of  the  glory 
of  the  children  of  God.     They,  "as  the  Lord's  free  people, 


314     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

joined  themselves  in  a  covenant  of  the  Lord  into  a  church 
estate,  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Gospel,  to  walk  in  all  His  ways, 
made  known,  or  to  be  made  known  unto  them,  according  to 
their  best  endeavors,  whatever  it  should  cost  them,  the  Lord 
assisting  them."  Such  a  covenant  should  be  strong  enough 
to  hold  in  union  all  those  ' '  whose  hearts  the  Lord  had  touched 
with  heavenly  zeal  for  His  truth. ' ' 

Rev.  a.  E.  Dunning,  D.  D., 
Former  Editor  of  The  Congregationalist. 

COVENANT,  NOT  CREED 

I  do  not  think  a  Congregational  church  ought  to  refuse 
to  receive  any  Christian  into  membership.  My  own  view  is 
that  a  Congregational  church  may  most  wisely  be  constituted 
by  its  covenant,  after  the  historic  New  England  fashion,  and 
in  that  case  there  would  be  no  creed  test.  Where  there  is  a 
creed,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  admission  of  new  members  under 
it  should  be  governed  by  an  enlightened  and  generous  cathol- 
icity and  by  Christian  common  sense.  The  minister  and  people 
should  agree  that  their  creed  is  not  to  be  pressed  as  a  theolog- 
ical test.  A  creed  test  as  a  qualification  for  church  member- 
ship would  be  the  death-blow  of  Protestantism. 

Prof.  John  W.  Platner. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary. 

FAITH  AND  CHRISTIAN  CONDUCT  SUFFICIENT 

In  Plymouth  Church  we  have  no  creed,  but  only  a  cove- 
nant, which,  however,  by  direct  word  or  inference  fixes  the 
one  who  assents  to  it  upon  the  fundamentals  of  faith.  That  is, 
it  requires  one  to  avow  his  acceptance  of  the  doctrines  taught 
in  the  Scriptures  (leaving  him  to  be  the  interpreter)  and  his 
loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  his  Lord  and  Master.  We  feel  that 
this,  with  the  accompanying  certification  of  earnest  Christian 


A  SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH   MEMBERSHIP  315 

purpose  and  consistent  conduct,  is  all  that  can  be  required  for 
membership. 

Rev.  H.  p.  Dewey,  D.  D. 
Plymouth  Church,  Minneapolis. 

RECEIVE  HIM,   UNLESS  VIOLENTLY  ANTAGONISTIC 

In  my  judgment  the  Congregational  church  should  not 
refuse  to  admit  to  its  fellowship  anyone  who  gives  evidence  of 
being,  a  follower  of  Christ,  unless  his  attitude  to  the  creed  of 
the  church  is  one  of  such  pronounced  antagonism  that  it  would 
hardly  be  hoped  that  he  would  share  helpfully  in  the  work  and 
life  of  the  church.  In  this  latter  case,  it  would  seem  wise  to 
advise  him  to  seek  fellowship  with  some  organization  in  which 
he  felt  himself  in  closer  accord. 

Pres.  Edward  D.  Eaton. 

Beloit  College. 

ACCEPT  ALL  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST 

It  ought  to  be  an  extraordinary  case  in  which  the  church 
should  refuse  to  accept  one  whom  they  believed  to  be  trying 
truly  to  be  a  disciple  of  Christ,  though  he  dissented  from  the 
creed  of  the  church.  This  has,  of  course,  been  our  practice 
in  the  Second  Church  of  Oberlin  for  many  years. 

Pres.  Henry  C.  King. 

Oberlin,  Ohio. 

REMOVE   THE  FENCE 

When  Eliot  Church,  Newton,  Mass.,  was  organized,  72 
years  ago,  it  had  a  creed  of  nine  articles,  as  most  churches  did 
at  that  time,  covering  belief  in  God,  the  person  and  work  of 
Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit,  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  original 
sin,  etc.  For  about  half  a  centur^^  every  person  uniting  with 
the  church  subscribed  to  that  creed. 


316     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

One  day  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  ago  the  pastor 
— who  was  then  Dr.  Wolcott  Calkins — came  back  from  his 
summer  vacation  and  found  the  white  fence  removed  from 
around  the  meeting-house.  Newton  had  grown  to  be  more  of 
a  city  than  village  and  stray  cattle  were  not  numerous.  He 
called  the  church  committee  together  and  said,  ''Brethren, 
I  see  you  have  removed  the  fence  from  the  meeting-house; 
now  let's  remove  the  fence  from  the  church."  They  asked 
him  what  he  meant  and  he  said  that  the  creed  kept  some  good 
people  out  of  the  church.  They  saw  the  point,  and  the  creed 
was  abolished,  and  a  simple  covenant  was  adopted  instead. 

Rev.  H.  Grant  Person. 

Eliot  Church,  Newton,  Mass. 

CREEDS  NOT  ESSENTIAL 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  creed  or  collection  of  creeds  is 
possessed  of  infalliblity.  Creeds  are  useful  as  expressing  the 
historical  development  of  Christian  thought  and  experience, 
but  their  acceptance  does  not  make  a  Christian  nor  their  en- 
dorsement a  Christian  church.  On  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
ability of  any  person  to  endorse  a  creed  does  not  imply  that 
he  is  not  a  Christian.  The  Congregational  tradition  builds 
itself  upon  the  relationship  of  the  soul  to  Christ.  If  a  man 
has  yielded  himself  to  the  love  and  service  of  Christ,  if  his  life 
is  manifestly  conforming  itself  to  the  law  of  Christ,  the  man 
is  a  Christian.  If  two  or  three  such  persons  assemble  them- 
selves in  the  name  of  Christ  to  remember  Him  and  to  encour- 
age each  other  in  the  effort  to  be  like  Him  and  to  fulfill  His 
will,  they  are  a  church.  Ministers,  deacons,  sacraments  and 
other  developments  of  organized  Christianity  are  not  essential, 
though  thej^  may  be  most  desirable.  For  this  reason  a  church 
would  be  acting  contrary  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ  if  she  refused 
fellowship  to  a  brother  who  was  loyal  to  her  Lord  but  stumbled 
over  the  foiTnulated  creeds  of  brethren  in  ages  past. 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP  317 

I  question  the  wisdom  of  creed  making.  The  practice  of 
the  greater  part  of  Christendom  has  been  contrary  to  my  con- 
viction. Catholic  and  Protestant,  Evangelical  and  Unitarian 
churches  have  resorted  to  creeds.  Unfortunately  Congrega- 
tionalists  have  forgotten  their  origin  and  followed  suit.  There 
is  nothing  binding  on  the  local  church,  however,  in  the  action 
of  the  federation  of  churches.  The  church  may  enter  or  with- 
draw or  be  expelled  by  the  federation. 

Rev.  John  Gardner,  D.  D., 

Pastor  New  England  Church,  Chicago. 

TEST  OF  CHARACTER  AND  SPIRIT 

It  is  not  the  custom  of  the  First  Congregational  Church 
of  Emporia  to  require  applicants  for  church  membership  to 
give  assent  to  any  definitely  formulated  creed,  nor  is  there  any 
stereotyped  form  of  covenant  used  in  the  reception  of  mem- 
bers into  church  membership.  That  persons  making  applica- 
tion for  membership  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  are  willing 
to  do  His  will  according  to  their  best  understanding  of  it  is  the 
fundamental  requirement  proposed  to  those  who  are  seeking 
church  membership  as  it  is  the  basis  upon  which  Christians  are 
invited  to  sit  in  communion  with  us.  It  is  the  custom  of  the 
pastor  of  the  church  upon  the  reception  of  members  to  ask  all 
Christians  to  enter  into  covenant  relations  \vith  those  seeking 
fellowship  with  our  church,  with  the  thought  in  mind  and  also 
expressed  that  they  are  joining  a  fellowship  as  broad  as  Chris- 
tendom and  as  rich  as  a  united  church  could  make  it.  I  believe 
that  the  test  of  church  membership  should  be  a  test  of  char- 
acter and  of  spirit  and  not  a  creedal  test,  and  if  the  minister 
is  wise  the  church  will  follow  him  in  this  method. 

Rev.  John  H.  J.  Rice. 

Emporia,  Kans. 


318  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND   COVENANTS 

CREED  TESTS  UNCHRISTIAN 

To  impose  a  creedal  test  as  a  condition  of  church  mem- 
bership is  a  singularly  un-Congregational  and  un-Christian 
requirement,  if  I  read  my  Congregationalism  and  Christianity 
aright.  Not  that  creeds  are  worthless,  but  their  purpose 
should  be  to  bring  persons  into  the  church,  not  to  keep  them 
out.  To  that  end  they  should  be  filled  with  sweet  reasonable- 
ness and  noble  appeal — a  ''Ho!  every  one  that  thirsteth" 
spirit,  an  invitation  to  freedom  of  thought  and  earnestness  of 
purpose — radiant  with  light  and  life  and  love.  Nothing  else 
is  a  true  reflection  of  the  Gospel.  Our  creeds  are  beginning 
to  catch  this  spirit,  as  the  Kansas  City  creed  and  many  of  our 
church  creeds  indicate.  We  need  the  bracing  effect  of  affirma- 
tion, especially  in  dark  and  trying  days ;  and  the  great  simple 
affirmations  of  faith  in  the  Father  Almighty  and  in  Jesus 
Christ  and  in  the  Life  Eternal  need  to  be  made  and  made  to- 
gether. But  immediately  any  affirmation  is  dogmatized  and 
intellectualized  and  defined  it  ceases  to  be  creedal  in  character, 
and  to  use  it  as  a  measuring-rod  for  membership  is  to  abuse 
both  ethics  and  religion. 

For  every  church  to  adopt  its  own  creed  seems  to  me  wise 
and  well,  but  for  every  church  to  formulate  its  own  creed — 
that  depends.  In  most  eases  it  were  wiser  to  adopt —  and  I 
think  as  a  denomination  we  shall  continue  to  move  in  that 
direction. 

Prof.  John  Wright  Buckham. 

Pacific  Theological  Seminary. 

CAUFORNIA  USAGE 

Some  years  ago  I  sent  a  questionaire  to  all  the  active 
pastors  in  southern  California,  at  that  time  fifty-two  in  num- 
ber, enclosing  the  following  questions: 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH   MEMBERSHIP  319 

"  ( 1 )  What  creedal  or  confessional  test  does  your  church 
require  of  applicants  for  membership  ? 

"  (2)  What  in  your  opinion  should  be  the  required  test?" 
Replies  were  received  from  every  one  of  the  fifty-two 
pastors — a  sufficiently  notable  result.  Four  of  these  were  so 
general  as  to  be  inconclusive;  but  more  than  nine-tenths  of 
the  active  pastors  of  the  association  are  represented  in  the 
following  conclusions: 

( 1 )  As  to  the  usage  at  that  time  prevailing.  Out  of  forty- 
four  churches  seven  used  one  of  the  three  forms  found  in  the 
Council  Manual  or  the  Pilgrim  Pastor's  Manual;  eight  more 
used  one  of  the  two  forms  found  in  the  Handbook  of  the  Con- 
gregational Churches  of  California  (one  of  these  the  same  as 
above)  ;  five  used  only  the  Apostles'  Creed;  four  examined 
candidates  in  the  creed  of  1883 ;  one  used  a  creed  drawn  up 
by  Doctor  Gunsaulus,  one  that  in  Roy's  Manual,  one  that  in 
Oberlin  Manual,  one  that  of  the  churches  of  Northern  Cali- 
fornia, and  one  that  was  prepared  by  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. ;  while 
the  largest  number,  fifteen,  used  simple  statements  of  faith 
peculiar  to  themselves,  non-creedal  in  nature,  and  most  often 
drawn  up  by  the  pastor  of  the  church. 

Surely  this  is  confusing  enough,  and  yet  it  would  seem  as 
though  the  pastors  of  the  state  were  reasonably  unanimous  in 
requiring  some  form  of  distinct  and  fonnal  creed  statement 
from  all  applicants  for  membership,  because  the  majority  of 
the  forms  used  require  at  least  two  creedal  statements:  (1) 
that  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  (2)  the  general,  and,  to  many, 
extremely  perplexing  blanket  statement  that  "they  accept, 
according  to  the  measure  of  their  understanding  of  it,  the 
system  of  Christian  trutJi  held  by  the  churches  of  our  faith 
and  order,  and  by  this  church,  etc." 

But  if  this  is  the  conclusion  that  we  are  tempted  to  draw 
from  these  statistics — that  a  creedal  confession  should  be  re- 
quired— further  inquiry  shows  it  to  be  quite  erroneous.    For 


320     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

there  appears,  on  further  examination,  a  surprising  consensus 
of  opinion  to  the  exactly  opposite  effect. 

Of  the  forty-eight  men  who  were  heard  from  decisively, 
not  one  expressed  himself  in  favor  of  what  might  be  called  a 
detailed  creed  as  a  requirement  for  church  membership.  Four 
pastors  expressed  their  satisfaction  with  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
or  with  the  Confession  in  the  manual  of  which  that  creed  forms 
a  part.  And  one,  using  the  Apostles'  Creed,  expressed  a  pref- 
erence for  requiring  ' '  a  firm  belief  in  those  doctrines  which  all 
evangelical  churches  believe  in  common."  But  every  one  of 
the  remaining  ninety  per  cent  has  either  discarded  already 
any  formal  creed  statement,  as  a  requirement  upon  applicants, 
or  expresses  his  preference  for  a  different  and  simpler  form  of 
admission  from  that  which  his  church  is  now  using.  There 
are  four  whose  positions  in  the  matter  is  perhaps  a  mediating 
one ;  they  would  require  acceptance  of  ' '  the  great  fundamental 
principles  of  Christianity,"  or  "the  essential  vital  verities  of 
the  gospel,  upon  which  all  Christians  practically  unite."  This 
would  seem  to  be  in  substantial  agreement  with  the  majority; 
but  in  any  case  the  remaining  nearly  eighty-five  per  cent  stand 
unqualifiedly  for  discipleship  of  Jesus  as  the  only  test  of  mem- 
bership. Of  course,  much  is  comprehended  in  that,  of  neces- 
sity— belief  in  God,  in  the  Bible,  in  Christian  fellowship ;  re- 
pentance, faith,  love — but  the  only  requirement  is  of  that 
which  involves  them  all,  the  desire  to  follow  after  Jesus. 

Here  are  a  number  of  typical  replies  from  those  who  were 
not  satisfied  with  the  usage  of  their  church.  The  test  should 
be  in  their  judgment : 

1.  An  avowal  of  hearty  discipleship  to  Jesus,  and  a 
pledge  of  cooperation  in  the  work  of  the  church. 

2.  Vital  piety. 

3.  A  desire  to  confess  Christ  and  a  purpose  to  follow 
Him. 

4.  Christian  character :  the  Bible  as  the  only  creed,  and 
rule  of  faith  and  practice. 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP  321 

5.  Repentance  of  sin,  acceptance  of  Christ  as  Saviour, 
and  devotion  to  the  service  of  Christ. 

6.  A  promise  of  loyalty  to  Christ,  as  the  candidate  under- 
stands Christ. 

7.  Simple  acceptance  of  Jesus  as  Saviour  and  Lord,  and 
a  stated  purpose  to  lead  the  Christian  life. 

8.  The  purpose  to  follow  Jesus. 

9.  A  desire  to  lead  a  Christ  life. 

10.  A  simple  declaration  of  one's  purpose  to  live  a  Chris- 
tian life. 

11.  No  more  than  the  Master  required  when  He  received 
men  into  His  fellowship. 

Nineteen  more  could  be  given  which  would  be  only  the 
repetition  in  varying  forms  of  the  above. 

Almost  all  of  the  above  ministers  were  using  forms  of 
admission  requiring  creedal  subscription  not  in  accord  with 
their  distinctly  expressed  preference. 

We  come  now  to  the  smaller  number  who  had  already 
brought  their  church  practice  into  harmony  with  their  own 
convictions,  and  who  had  a  simple  non-creedal  confession, 
covering,  as  a  rule,  the  three  points  of  repentance,  disciple- 
ship  and  fellowship. 

I  give,  as  typical,  only  three  of  these,  for  the  sake  of 
brevity : 

"I  believe  in  God  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  supreme  reve- 
lation of  His  life  and  love,  and  in  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  the 
hearts  of  men.  For  worship,  for  instruction,  for  fellowship  in 
ser\'ice,  I  unite  with  this  church  and  with  all  who  share  the 
Christian  faith,  and  I  will  strive  for  the  upbuilding  of  God's 
Kingdom  in  my  own.  heart  and  life,  and  in  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  othei^." 

"You  promise  that  you  will  take  the  Lord  to  be  your 
God  and  Jesus  your  Saviour,  and  that  you  will  order  your 
lives  in  accordance  wath  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures. ' ' 


322     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

' '  You  do  now  confess  to  a  living  and  loving  relation  with 
your  Saviour,  and  you  desire,  guided  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  to 
live  henceforth  as  His  disciple  in  the  fellowship  and  service 
of  His  church." 

The  conclusion  from  all  the  above  showing  is  obvious,  and 
of  great  importance.  It  is  this :  That  our  ministers  are  by  no 
means  in  a  state  of  confused  indecision  or  hopeless  disagree- 
ment as  to  requirements  upon  new  members,  as  the  actual 
practice  of  our  churches  would  seem  to  indicate.  On  the 
contrary,  the  ministers,  with  few  exceptions,  are  agreed  as  to 
what  our  policy  ought  to  be,  viz. :  That  the  church  should  lay 
no  creedal  test  upon  incoming  members  other  than  that  which 
is  involved  in  avowed  discipleship  of  Jesus. 

My  own  church  for  many  years  has  required  no  other 
test  for  membership  than  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Rev.  Henry  Kingman. 
Claremont,  Cal. 

EVIDENCE  OF  FAITH  SHOULD  BE  PRODUCED 

I  should  not  consider  full  acceptance  of  a  creedal  state- 
ment indispensable  to  church  membership.  Yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  should  not  advocate  the  reception  of  any  person  who 
dissented,  unless  there  was  clear  evidence  of  a  genuine  faith 
and  purpose  in  some  way  evidenced  and  expressed. 

J.  Percival  Hugkt. 

First  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

CONFESS  the   common  FAITH 

The  Central  Church  at  Galesburg,  111.,  has  a  confession 
of  faith  of  thirteen  articles.  Originally  there  were  twelve. 
Long  before  the  present  pastorate  the  thirteenth  was  added, 
as  follows: 


A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   CHURCH   MEMBERSHIP  323 

"This  creed  is  intended  as  our  expression  of  the  funda- 
mental teaching  of  the  Biblical  revelation,  and  not  as  a  test  of 
qualification  for  church  membership." 

I  am  in  thorough  sympathy  with  this  usage.  This  church 
would  accept,  and  I  would  welcome,  any  Christian  person, 
provided  his  dissent  was  not  openly  controversial ;  if  it  were, 
I  should  think  he  might  better  find  another  church. 

Rev.  Charles  E.  McKinley. 

Pastor  Central  Church,  Galesburg,  111. 

NO  UNIVERSAL  RULE  POSSIBLE 

In  this  church  members  assent  to  both  creed  and  covenant, 
but  a  committee  has  been  appointed  to  prepare  a  new  foiTa  for 
admission  of  members,  and  this  may  be  changed.  No  universal 
rule  can  be  made  as  to  whether  a  member  should  be  received 
who  dissents  from  the  creed.  It  depends  on  the  mental  and 
spiritual  attitude  of  the  applicant. 

Rev.  Edward  M.  Noyes,  D.  D. 

Newton  Center,  Mass. 

EVIDENCE  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

When  I  was  pastor  of  a  church,  candidates  received  into 
the  church  simply  assented  to  the  covenant,  and  we  admitted 
any  who  gave  evidence  of  a  Christian  purpose. 

Prof.  William  H.  Ryder,  D.  D. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary. 

ASSENT  to  covenant 

-  In  Plymouth  Church,  Des  IVIoines,  we  have  a  church  cove- 
nant and  creed.  The  creed  of  the  church  is  the  Kansas  City 
Declaration  of  1913.  There  is  no  subscription  to  this  on  the 
part  of  those  who  come  into  membership  in  the  church.    The 


324     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

church  covenant  is  taken  by  all.    My  own  judgment  is  in  favor 
of  this.    It  works  satisfactorily  with  us. 

Rev.  J.  Edward  Kirbye,  D.  D. 
Pastor  Plymouth  Church,  Des'  Moines,  Iowa. 

ADMIT  ALL  WHO  LOVE  CHRIST 

In  no  church  that  I  have  served  have  I  ever  asked  the 
people  to  assent  to  the  creed,  but  only  to  the  covenant.  Our 
church  has  a  brief  creed,  but  we  ask  the  people  only  to  assent 
to  the  covenant  of  the  church.  This  creed  and  form  of  ad- 
mission was  revised  about  six  years  ago,  and  was  so  drawn 
that  it  would  admit  all  who  love  Jesus  Christ.  I  do  not  think 
that  any  church  should  refuse  to  admit  to  its  fello^vship  any 
person  who  gives  credible  evidence  of  conversion.  Men  are 
saved  not  by  assenting  or  dissenting  to  creeds,  but  by  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  give  proof  of  their  Christian 
faith  by  love  and  loyalty  in  the  service  of  the  Master. 

Rev.  Samuel  H.  Woodrow,  D.  D. 

Pilgi-im  Congregational  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

the  covenant  the  bond  of  union 

The  primary  bond  of  unity  in  a  church  should  be  distinct- 
ly a  covenant  rather  than  a  creed,  except  as  certain  general 
fundamental  propositions  are  involved  in  the  very  nature  of 
a  covenant.  Pastors  or  laymen  should  hold  the  creed  in  this 
secondaiy  position,  and  wide  latitude  in  freedom  of  thought 
should  be  allowed,  provided  this  latitude  is  held  in  the  spirit 
of  brotherliness. 

Pres.  James  A.  Blaisdel. 

Pomona  College,  California. 


A  SYMPOSIUM  ON  CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP  325 

NECESSITY   OF   GREAT   CONVICTIONS 

In  the  "Form  for  the  Reception  of  Members"  recently 
adopted  by  the  First  Church  in  Berkeley,  we  have  undertaken 
to  make  the  creedal  element  so  simple  and  fundamental  that 
all  people  who  love  the  truth  and  desire  goodness  and  who 
recognize  that  both  truth  and  goodness  are  best  understood 
through  Jesus  could  give  their  hearty  and  unhesitating  assent. 

It  seems  to  us  essential  that  church  membership  should 
rest  upon  the  recognition  and  acceptance  of  certain  great  con- 
victions, but  that  those  convictions  should  be  stated  in  terms 
that  do  not  admit  of  controversy.  That  is  to  say,  the  creedal 
element  should  never  be  simply  a  statement  of  historic  fact, 
for  example,  concerning  the  birth,  death  or  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  or  an  interpretation  of  such  facts,  but  it  should  be  a 
statement  concerning  the  gi'eat  moral,  spiritual  and  social 
realities,  in  the  light  of  which  every  man  who  lives  to  any 
purpose  must  live,  and  it  should  be  made  in  terms  at  once  so 
universal  and  so  particular  that  they  compel  the  assent  of 
every  thoughtful  man  Avho  believes  in  the  faith  of  Jesus  and 
present  a  challenge  to  every  man  to  determine  the  spirit  of 
his  inner  life  in  the  light  of  them.  I  cannot  quite  imagine 
why  any  man  who  does  not  see  these  realities  of  the  moral 
and  spiritual  life  should  desire  church  membership,  nor  can  I 
see  how  he  would  be  likely  to  help  through  the  church  to  es- 
tablish the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Rev.  Raymond  C.  Brooks. 

Pasto^  First  Congregational  Church,  Berkeley,  Cal. 


VII.    THE  MINISTER  AND  CREED  SUBSCRIPTION 

The  question  whether  a  layman  should  be  received  into 
the  membership  of  a  church,  though  finding  himself  not  to 
be  in  accord  with  some  parts  of  the  church  creed,  is  not  iden- 
tical with  the  question  whether  a  minister  may  accept  a  call 
to  a  church  whose  confession  of  faith  he  does  not  accept;  or 
whether  he  may  in  good  conscience  hold  to  his  pastorate  after 
finding  himself  out  of  sympathy  with  some  part  of  its  author- 
ized teaching.  I  have  discussed  these  and  related  questions 
in  their  appropriate  places  in  this  volume,  but  it  has  seemed 
to  me  well  to  obtain  also  the  judgment  of  a  number  of  pastors 
in  our  leading  churches  and  teachers  in  our  colleges  and  theo- 
logical seminaries.  I  give  these  as  they  have  come  to  me,  as- 
sured that  the  readers  of  this  volume  will  find  this  symposium 
both  interesting  and  profitable. 

MINISTER   SHOULD    BE   SPIRITUAL    LEADER 

A  minister  whose  views  are  not  in  harmony  with  the 
creeds  of  his  church,  but  who  is  in  general  sympathy  with 
its  spirit,  should  not  be  required,  either  to  accomodate  his 
teachings  to  the  creed  or  to  resign  his  pastorate.  He  should 
remain  and  lead  on  gently  but  surely,  giving  his  people  the 
Bible  view  of  truth.  His  duty  as  the  leader  in  spiritual  things 
requires  him  to  do  this  and  not  to  run  away. 

Rev.  James  R.  Smith. 
People 's  Church,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 


326 


THE  MINISTER  AND  CREED  SUBSCRIPTION  327 

CREED  AND   HIGHER  STANDARDS 

A  minister  should  be  required  to  preach  the  creed  only 
so  far  as  the  creed  itself  conforms  to  the  higher  standards  of 
the  New  Testament. 

Rev.  Henry  F.  Milligan. 

First  Church,  Dubuque,  la. 

A  minister  who  no  longer  can  accept  the  creed  of  his 
church,  but  believes  in  its  spirit  and  work,  should  stay  at  his 
post.  If  he  is  a  true  teacher  the  church  will  catch  up  with  him. 
The  majority  of  the  church  is  generally  far  ahead  of  the  creed. 
Creeds  are  static,  but  Christians  grow.  All  do  not  grow  at 
the  same  rate,  so  it  is  alwaj^s  difficult  for  a  creed  to  keep  up 
with  the  Christian.  If  there  is  enough  common  ground  be- 
tween a  minister  and  his  church  to  give  him  room  to  walk 
about,  he  should  stay,  and  by  faithful  service  and  educative 
preaching  he  \vill  establish  common  ground  between  him  and 
the  church.  If,  however,  there  is  a  fundamental  divergence  in 
the  spirit  and  content  of  faith,  that  is  another  matter. 

Prof.  Daniel  Evans. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary. 

pastor  should  be  in  sympathy  WITH  CHURCH  DOCTRINE 

A  pastor  should  not  assume  the  pastoral  office  unless  he 
finds  himself  so  far  in  accord  with  the  doctrinal  positions  of 
the  church  that  he  can  labor  whole-heartedly  and  conscien- 
tiously for  its  upbuilding.  He  may  heartily  agree  with  the 
Creed  of  the  church  and  yet  feel  that  some  simpler  and  broad- 
er statement  of  the  faith  would  be  preferable,  and  work,  with 
wisdom,  to  the  end  that  a  change  may  be  made.  But  he  has 
no  right  to  become  pastor  of  a  church  if  he  is  not  in  sympathy 
with  its  teachings,  and  thus  use  the  prestige  of  his  position  to 


328     CONGREGATIONAL,  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

sever  the  church  from  its  doctrinal  foundations.    Such  a  course 
is  ecclesiastical  piracy. 

One  who  becomes  a  minister  of  a  church  has  a  more  sol- 
emn obligation  to  be  loyal  to  its  teaching  than  one  on  whom 
rests  no  burden  of  leadership.  He  .owes  a  debt  to  the  tradi- 
tional faith  of  his  own  church  and  to  the  denomination  which 
he  serves.  He  has  no  right  to  assume  that  upon  him  devolves 
the  responsibility, — of  the  cost  of  intellectual  honesty  in  seem- 
ing (at  the  start)  to  represent  what  in  reality  he  does  not 
represent^ — of  moving  his  church  or  his  denomination  over 
from  one  position  to  another  which  may  be  of  quite  a  differ- 
ent nature.  If  it  concerns  shades  of  thought,  that  is  one  thing. 
If  it  conceras  fundamental  vital  differences',  that  is  quite  a 
different  thing.  In  the  latter  case  he  should  resign  and  go 
elsewhere,  or  form  a  new  group  of  those  favorable  to  his 
thought. 

Prof.  Henry  H.  Walker. 

Chicago  Theological  Seminary. 

MINISTER  SHOULD  UPHOLD  ESSENTIAL  CHRISTIAN  FAITH 

If  a  minister  is  out  of  sympathy  with  the  general  teaching 
and  belief  of  the  church,  either  he  should  withdraw  from  it 
or  the  church  should  alter  its  statement  of  faith.  I  do  not 
believe  in  having  a  separate  creed  for  each  local  church.  It 
is  enough  for  both  church  and  minister  to  signify  the  accept- 
ance of  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  apostolic,  primitive 
and  Congregational  churches  substantially  as  they  are  set 
forth  in  the  ancient  creeds  of  Christendom. 

Rev.  Raymond  Calkins,  D.  D. 

First  Church,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

KEEP  THE  UNITY  OF  THE  SPIRIT 

A  minister  who  accepts  a  pastorate  which  requires  him  in 
specific  terms  to  believe  and  teach  its  creed  must  keep  his 


THE   MINISTER   AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  329 

contract  or  give  up  his  charge.  But  a  wise  man  will  be  slow 
to  bind  himself  by  such  a  contract.  A  wise  church  will  be 
slow  to  choose  a  minister  who  is  Avilling  to  put  such  a  barrier 
to  his  and  their  progi'ess  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  to  his 
guidance  into  all  the  truth  which  our  Lord  promised  to  those 
who  would  receive  his  Spirit. 

Usually  a  minister  Avho  seeks  such  knowledge,  in  loyalty 
to  the  historic  faith  of  our  Churches,  and  makes  it  his  vocation 
to  lead  his  people  into  the  larger"  fellowship  with  all  time  dis- 
ciples of  Chinst,  will  find  the  intelligent  members  of  his  church 
co-operating  with  him  toward  that  end.  He  will  not  be  impa- 
tient or  controversial  or  overconfident  in  his  own  opinions.  He 
will  learn  from  them  while  he  teaches  them.  He  will  encour- 
age the  free  expression  of  the  views  of  his  people,  and  will 
especially  respect  convictions  which  are  the  fruit  of  experience. 

In  most  Christian  churches  such  a  pastor  will  be  able  to 
avoid  bitterness  arising  from  differing  views, ' '  giving  diligence 
to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace. ' '  He  and 
his  people  will  work  together  to  * '  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the 
faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  unto  a  full  grown  man, 
unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. ' ' 

Rev.  a.  E.  Dunning,  D.  D. 
Former  Editor  of  TJie  Congregationalist. 

EXPECT  MORE  FROM  MINISTER  THAN  MEMBER 

We  have  the  right  to  expect  something  more  from  the 
minister  than  from  the  lay  member  of  the  church.  As  an 
appointed  and  authorized  teacher  he  should  stand  in  line  with 
the  general  features  of  the  creed  of  his  church.  He  cannot  be 
blankly  and  baldly  out  of  sympathy  with  such  creed.  Never- 
theless he  must  preserv^e  his  own  independence  of  thought.  In 
essentials  he  cannot  accommodate  his  preaching  to  a  creed  he 
does  not  believe.  If  he  thus  accommodates,  and  holds  truth  in 
reserve,  he  becomes  a  hypocrite  and  loses  his  OAvn  self  respect. 


330     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

If  he  thus  accommodates,  and  his  people  know  it,  he  loses  their 
respect  and  confidence  and  with  these  his  influence.  The  duty 
of  the  minister  is  to  tell  the  truth  that  he  and  others  may  live 
by  it.  Rev.  Naboth  Osborne. 

Burlington,  Iowa. 

''follow  me" 

There  are  places  where  the  only  rule  about  clothing  is  that 
it  shall  be  sufficient  for  decency.  They  are  places  of  fruitful 
or  at  least  eager  activity.  I  should  not  wish  to  admit  a  can- 
didate who  had  not  creed  enough  to  confess  belief  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  his  Lord  and  Saviour.  But  I  should  never  be  anxious 
to  compel  conformity  even  as  to  important  doctrines.  "When 
Jesus  said  "Follow  me,"  he  set  forth  the  only  test  we  have 
any  right  to  apply.  The  pastor  and  the  creed  of  his  local 
church  ought  to  get  together.  Sometimes  that  may  happen  by 
revising  the  creed ;  sometimes  by  convincing  the  pastor.  Usu- 
ally, however,  the  mediating  point  is  the  church,  to  whom, 
before  a  pastorate  begins,  the  minister  should  present  his 
criticisms  of  their  creed,  and  ask  for  their  judgment  upon 
his  fitness  for  the  office.  If  convictions  change  during  a  pas- 
torate, the  man  should  follow  something  of  the  same  method. 
It  is  dangerous,  and  actually  will  be  decided  on  personal  rather 
than  theological  grounds,  so  that  a  man  should  be  very  sure  of 
his  convictions  before  making  such  a  statement.  If  the  point 
of  difference  be  not  too  vital,  discreet  silence  ■will  often  prevent 
the  discord  from  sounding  too  loud. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  the  business  of  the  minister  to 
preach  religion  and  to  make  as  little  as  possible  of  theological 
formulas.  He  will  not  preach  religion  effectively  without  a 
very  vigorous  theology,  but  he  will  be  very  far  from  any  dis- 
position to  require  detailed  acceptance  of  his  theology  by  his 
people,  or  to  yield  such  acceptance  to  theirs. 

Rev.  John  Luther  Kilbon. 

Springfield,  Mass. 


THE  MINISTER  AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  331 

LIBERTY  OF  INTERPRETATIONS 

The  Pastor  should  be  given  liberty  of  interpretation  and 
constructive  thinking.  He  should,  how'ever,  be  in  substantial 
sympathy  with  the  fundamentals  of  the  Creed  of  the  church 
which  he  serves. 

A  minister  who  finds  his  views  not  in  harmony  with  the 
Creed  of  his  church  in  all  its  particulars,  but  who  counts  him- 
self loyal  to  its  spirit  and  one  with  it  in  the  great  and  central 
fundamentals  can  still  honorably  serve  the  church.  But  if  he 
is  not  in  substantial  agreement,  honor  would  compel  him  to 
relinquish  the  work  . 

Rev.  Edward  D.  Gaylord. 

Pilgrim  C'hurch,  Dorchester,  Mass. 

MINISTER  MUST  BE  FREE 

A  minister  must  be  free.  And  his  message  must  be  one 
he  genuinely  and  personally  believes.  At  the  same  time  a 
minister  who  is  clearly  at  variance  with  the  creed  of  his  church 
should  respect  the  rights  of  the  church.  If  the  conflict  is  real 
and  not  capable  of  compromise  without  sacrifice  of  principle 
on  either  side,  the  minister  should  seek  another  field. 

If  genuinely  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  and  content  of 
the  statement  of  his  church  he  should  be  able  to  serve  faith- 
fully with  emphasis  upon  the  positive  element  rather  than  the 
magnifying  of  the  points  of  disagreement.  If  his  leadership 
is  really  capable  and  his  own  belief  more  in  accord  with  truth 
than  the  creed  of  his  church  he  should  be  able  with  patience  to 
lead  the  church  into  a  larger  liberty. 

Rev.  J.  Percival  Huget. 

First  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

sincere  expressions  of  HIS  OWN  experience 

I  have  profound  respect  for  the  attempts  which  Christian 
people  have  made  in  other  ages  to  set  forth  in  definite  form 
their  convictions  and  hopes.    I  respect  any  belief  which  has 


332     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

ever  gotten  hold  of  human  hearts  in  such  a  way  as  to  inspire 
its  possessor  to  a  better  life.  On  the  other  hand,  our  age,  like 
every  other,  has  the  right  to  think  for  itself  and  to  describe 
its  experiences  in  terms  of  its  own  life  and  thought.  I  believe 
that  our  understanding  of  truth  is  progressive  and  that  there- 
fore the  fonnulas  which  attempt  to  set  forth  our  beliefs  need 
constant  revision  to  make  them  adequate  as  expressions  of  ever 
increasing  insight. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  interests  of  truth  are  served  by 
surrounding  any  man  with  social  expectations  which  persuade 
him  to  make  professions  which  are  not  sincere  expressions  of 
his  own  experience.  I  believe  the  fact  of  prime  importance  to 
be  the  experience  of  love  and  loyalty  to  Jesus,  leading  to  a 
discovery  and  understanding  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  qual- 
ities of  the  universe  and  reculting  in  the  definite  commitment 
of  one's  life  to  their  service.  Anyone  who  has  been  brought  in 
this  way  into  vital  relationships  with  God,  I  believe  to  be  a 
member  of  his  spiritual  kingdom.  I  believe  he  is  entitled  to 
such  forms  of  expressing  his  experience  as  may  seem  to  him 
most  adequate  and  sincere. 

So  far  from  believing  that  freedom  of  this  sort  would 
weaken  the  effectiveness  of  Christianity,  I  am  convinced  that 
it  is  the  only  basis  on  which  people  of  differing  temperaments 
and  training  can  ever  be  brought  together  into  a  united  Chris- 
tian church.  Donald  J.  Cowling. 

Carleton  College,  Northfield,  Minnesota. 

CHURCH  SHOULD  NOT  FETTER  ITS   MINISTER 

A  progi'essive  church  will  not  fetter  its  minister  in  his 
search  after  truth  by  insisting  that  he  work  and  preach  within 
the  limits  of  a  hard  and  fast  statement  of  faith.  Creeds  are 
stationary  and  fixed.  Truth  is  ever  being  revealed.  An  in- 
telligent people  desires  the  latest  truth  as  it  breaks  forth  from 
God's  holy  word.    They  expect  that  their  minister  will  be  a 


THE   MINISTER   AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  833 

true  educator,  keeping  them  abreast  of  the  times,  changes  in 
thought,  and  increasing  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  Truth  is 
larger  than  all  statements  of  it.  No  man  or  church  can  say, 
"Lo,  I  have  it  all.  Here  it  is,  summed  up  and  stated  for  all 
time  and  peoples  in  this  creed." 

If  a  church  chooses  to  be  bound  by  a  statement  of  faith 
probably  made  in,  by  and  for  another  age,  it  might  be  neces- 
sary for  a  minister  to  leave  such  a  church.  He  would  probably 
wish  to.  I  think,  however,  that  a  truly  consecrated  minister 
need  not  be  restricted  in  honest  preaching  by  the  creed  of  his 
church,  but  can  preach  the  truth  as  he  sees  it.  He  can  do  this 
and  be  loyal  to  the  spirit  of  his  church  and  people,  and  in 
thorough  harmony  with  both.  He  will  yield  to  others  the 
same  right  he  demands  for  himself,  the  right  to  accept  truth 
as  it  is  indi\ddually  seen.  He  will  not  be  dogmatic  or  unchar- 
itable in  his  presentations.  A  people  who  are  busy  bringing 
people  to  Christ  will  not  bother  over  fine  distinctions.  For  them 
Christ  Himself  will  be  the  ultimate  and  final  creed— "the  way, 
the  truth  and  the  life. ' ' 

I  have  never  preached  on  creeds.  I  purposely  avoid 
technical  and  theological  terms.  The  use  of  old  terminologies 
and  doctrinal  positions  always  lines  people  up  and  excites  op- 
position. Every  minister  preaches  to  the  conservative  and 
liberal  mind.  He  cannot  expect  old  people  to  entirely  abandon 
ways  of  thinking  in  which  they  were  trained  and  have  been 
brought  up.  Such  people  cannot  ask  of  their  minister  that  he 
preach  exactly  as  the  minister  did  fifty  years  ago.  The  liberal 
mind  cannot  be  illiberal  by  acting  uncharitably  toward  the 
conservative  thinker.  The  great  facts  underlying  all  state- 
ments of  truth  are  the  important  thing.  These  can  be 
preached  to  all  men  when  they  are  set  forth  in  a  winning  way 
and  with  a  constructive  purpose. 

Rev.  Malcom  Dana. 
Ottumwa,  Iowa. 


334  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

NO  CHURCH  SHOULD  REQUIRE  SUBSCRIPTION 

No  Congregational  church  should  permit  itself  to  ask 
either  its  minister  or  its  members  to  assent  to  any  other  kind 
of  a, creed.  To  substitute  a  set  of  propositions  about  Christ, 
about  the  manner  of  his  coming  into  the  world  or  the  manner 
of  his  exit  from  the  world  or  the  way  in  which  he  atones  for 
the  sins  of  men,  for  the  faith  of  Jesus  in  the  wisdom  and  love 
and  power  of  God,  is  to  be  false  to  our  Congregational  inheri- 
tance and  to  deny  a  fundamental  article  of  the  Congregational 
and  Christian  creed,  viz.,  "I  believe  in  freedom  of  thought." 
' '  The  Spirit  of  truth  will  guide  you. ' '  Every  Congregational 
minister  has  the  right  to  assume  that  the  church  expects  him 
to  dwell  as  patiently  and  persistently  and  lovingly  as  he  knows 
how  in  the  presence  of  all  the  facts  that  seem  important  to 
him  and  to  follow  the  gleam  they  afford  unhesitatingly  and 
without  hindrance  from  the  church.  If,  at  any  time,  any  min- 
ister finds  that  he  no  longer  earnestly  desires  for  himself  and 
for  his  people  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  if  he  no  longer  seeks  for 
himself  and  for  them  Christ's  experience  of  God  and  His  way 
of  life  then  certainly  he  has  no  business  to  remain  as  leader 
of  a  Christian  group.  But  so  long  as  that  is  his  sincere  and 
intelligent  purpose  to  put  any  barriers  in  his  way  in  the  way 
of  creed  subscriptions  is  to  do  a  thing  essentially  unchristian. 

When  we  think  through  our  delusions  we  will  all  think 
alike  on  fundamental  matters.  But  one  of  the  most  persistent 
delusions  is  the  superstitious  fear  of  freedom,  a  fear  that  re- 
veals a  fundamental  lack  of  faith  in  God,  in  Truth,  and  in  the 
mind  of  man. 

To  ask  a  minister  to  subscribe  to  any  statement  of  faith, 
other  in  kind  than  that  described  above  is  unethical  on  the 
part  of  the  church  and  for  a  minister  to  subscribe  to  a  creed  in 
which  he  does  not  and  cannot  believe  for  the  sake  of  the  ser- 
vice he  can  render  is  unethical  and,  brings  the  church  at  length 
into  deserved  contempt.  Eev.  Raymond  C.  Brooks. 

First  Church,  Berkeley,  Calif. 


THE  MINISTER  AND  CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  335 

UNITY  OF  PURPOSE 

After  a  church  and  a  pastor  have  had  a  reasonable  time 
to  understand  each  other,  honesty  and  efficiency  require  that 
there  should  be  a  unity  of  purpose.  If  the  pastor  cannot  per- 
suade the  church  to  change  its  position  with  something  near 
unanimity  I  should  advise  him  to  step  aside.  When  I  had 
been  with  the  First  Church  of  Denver  a  few  months  I  sug- 
gested a  change  in  the  constitution  but  concluded  the  people 
were  not  quite  ready  for  it.  A  few  months  later  they  made  the 
change  unanimously.  I  frankly  told  them  that  it  might  result 
disastrously  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  had  that  effect  in  the 
six  or  seven  years  since.  A  church  and  its  pastor  should  not 
work  at  cross  purposes. 

Rev,  Allan  A.  Tanner. 

Denver,  Colo. 

PASTOR  SHOULD  LEAD 

I  believe  it  to  be  the  privilege  and  duty  of  the  pastor  to 
lead  his  people  in  matters  of  belief  patiently  and  wisely,  and 
that  he  should  not  be  required  to  conform  to  any  ironclad 
creedal  statement  which  the  church  may  have  adopted.  He 
is  best  informed  in  matters  of  belief  and  is  best  able  to  lead 
the  people  to  a  larger  understanding  and  appreciation  in  mat- 
ters of  Christian  truth  and  doctrine.  If  a  church  has  adopted 
a  formal  creedal  statement  upon  which  they  expect  the  pastor 
to  stand  and  in  accordance  with  which  they  expect  him  to  con- 
form his  teachings,  it  probably  would  be  desirable  that  there 
should  be  a  definite  understanding  between  the  pastor  and 
the  church  at  the  beginning  of  his  pastorate. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  what  the  minister  should  do  who 
finds  himself  out  of  harmony  with  the  creed  of  his  church,  but 
who  still  counts  himself  loyal  to  its  spirit  and  the  general  con- 
tent of  its  faith.  Much  will  depend  upon  circumstances.  A 
wise  pastor  whose  message  is  progressive  and  constructive  will, 


336     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

I  think,  find  a  large  part  of  the  membership  of  the  church 
sympathetic  with  him,  even  though  he  may  depart  somewhat 
from  the  recognized  standards  in  loyalty  to  the  truth  as  he 
is  given  to  see  it.  When  a  minister  finds  himself  out  of  har- 
mony with  the  creed  of  his  church,  with  no  hope  of  bringing 
the  membership  into  harmony  with  his  views,  I  think  he  had 
better  seek  another  field  of  labor. 

Eev.  J.  R.  Nichols. 
Pastor,  Rogers  Park,  Chicago. 

GIVE  BEST  THINKING 

If  a  minister  finds  his  own  views  not  in  harmony  with  the 
creed  of  his  church  he  should  first  of  all  determine  whether 
the  creed  represents  the  best  and  most  forward  looking  think- 
ing of  his  denomination — if  it  does  not,  change  the  creed  and 
get  the  church  to  fall  into  line  with  his  denominational  leaders 
— if  it  does  and  he  finds  himself  at  variance  then  he  should 
change  parishes  and  find  one  suited  to  him  either  within  or 
without  his  denomination.  It  is  detrimental  to  moral  char- 
acter for  a  minister  to  placate  all  the  time  and  not  think  con- 
scientiously. Congregationalism  should  cultivate  sincerity  of 
thought  and  it  is  the  moral  duty  of  the  minister  to  give  his 
best  thinking  to  the  people. 

Rev.  J,  Edward  Kirbye. 

Plymouth  Church,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

creedal  preaching  unprofitable 

Creedal  preaching  is  not  profitable  and  seldom  interpre- 
tive of  the  Mind  of  the  Master,  who  never  defined  any  cardinal 
truth  but  always  interpreted  His  Heavenly  Father. 

Any  minister  loyal  to  the  spirit  and  in  sympathy  with  the 
general  content  of  faith  should  remain  in  the  church  unless  he 
is  convinced  that  he  should  sever  connection  in  the  interest  of 
honesty. 


THE  MINISTER  AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  337 

I  wish  we  could  dispense  with  the  creed  and  have  only  a 
covenant.  Rev.  Bastian  Smits. 

Jackson,  Mich. 

THE  LIBERTY  OF  PROPHESYING 

Every  Congregational  minister  should  be  allowed  the  lib- 
erty of  prophesying.  If  he  finds  he  has  outgrown  the  creed, 
he  can  do  what  I  personally  have  done  in  times  past,  actually 
refuse  to  recite  the  clauses  of  the  creed  to  which  he  cannot 
consent  and  he  can  begin  to  leaven  his  church  with  a  new 
point  of  view.  The  creedal  problem  is  usually  not  one  of 
specific  details  but  of  general  attitude.  He  can  preach  a 
method,  a  disposition,  in  the  knowledge  that  he  can  thus  pre- 
pare the  way  for  a  revision  of  the  existing  creed.  The  state 
of  Christendom  being  what  it  is  I  think  we  can  afford  to  ignore 
theological  details  and  center  upon  practical  problems  of 
moral  purpose  and  method. 

Rev.  W.  L.  Sperry. 

Central  Church,  Boston. 

minister  must  not  divide  church 

I  do  not  think  that  a  minister  has  a  right  to  disrupt  a 
church  with  his  discordant  views.  The  church  has  a  history 
and  a  life  that  is  sacred  to  it  and  which  the  minister  ought  to 
regard  as  sacred,  and  should  only  go  so  far  as  with  tact  of 
personality  and  of  refined  leadership  he  may  be  able  to  lead 
his  people  into  new  fields  of  thinking  and  into  better  concep- 
tions of  Christianity.  I  realize  as  no  one  else  can  realize  that 
the  creed  that  fitted  my  thought  when  I  entered  the  ministry 
would  be  an  ill  fitting  cover  for  my  present  thought  of  religion 
and  would  limit  greatly  my  power  to  lead  people  into  the 
kingdom  and  so  I  have  come  to  feel  that  a  character  and  a 
spirit  test  best  meets  the  requirements  of  church  fellowship. 

Rev.  John  H.  J.  Rice. 

First  Church,  Emporia,  Kan. 


338  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS   AND   COVENANTS 

MAJORITY  CARE  LITTLE  FOR  CREEDS 

In  these  transitional  days  when  so  many  men  in  the  pul- 
pits and  pews  are  emerging  from  the  older  more  literal,  more 
rigid  foiTTis  of  belief  to  the  simpler,  more  vital  and  more 
spiritual  interpretation  of  Christianity,  I  believe  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  pastors  to  be  progressive,  constructive,  educational,  and 
above  all  things  to  get  into  the  spirit  of  the  more  practical, 
scientific  and  reasonable  religious  teaching,  Happy  is  the 
leader  and  people  who  can  move  out  of  the  old  into  the  new 
without  jar  or  division. 

Happily  creed  subscription  cuts  little  figure  with  the 
great  majority  of  Congregational  churches,  not  because  they 
are  indifferent  to  the  teachings  of  the  church,  but  because  the 
covenant  and  the  service  of  the  church  are  the  more  vital  in- 
terests. When  these  are  harmonious  with  the  Gospel,  the  creed 
will  not  be  far  away  from  it. 

Rev.  Archibald  Haddon, 

First  Church,  Muskegon,  Mich. 

live  up  to  it  or  change  it 

If  the  constitution  of  a  church  requires  the  acceptance  of 
the  creed  it  should  live  up  to  this  constitution  or  change  it. 
I  believe  in  retaining  the  ancient  creed  of  a  local  church  "as 
a  testimony  rather  than  a  test,"  or  better  making  specific 
reference  to  the  Kansas  City  declaration  as  the  general  posi- 
tion of  the  Congi'egational  church.  The  Second  Church,  Ober- 
lin,  makes  such  a  reference  in  its  Manual  and  then  makes  the 
further  statement  in  effect ' '  being  a  community  church  as  well 
as  a  Congregational  church  we  receive  into  our  fellowship 
Christians  of  all  shades  of  belief. ' '  This  church  recently  re- 
ceived Unitarians  into  their  fellowship.  There  was  no  objec- 
tion, at  least  not  expressed  in  the  public  vote.  I  feel,  however, 
that  great  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  average  Congrega- 


THE   MINISTER   AND   CREED    SUBSCRIPTION  839 

tional  church  to  discover  that  the  underlying*  Christian  pur- 
pose of  the  new  member  coming  from  some  other  community 
should  be  definitely  determined  just  as  carefully  in  the  case  of 
individuals  joining  on  confession  of  faith. 

A  pastor  should  not  accept  the  pastorate  of  any  church 
whose  creed  he  is  out  of  harmony  with.  If  the  church  is  on 
a  creedal  basis  instead  of  the  covenant  basis  and  a  pastor  can- 
not accept  the  creed  he  cannot  honestly  become  a  member  of 
the  church,  much  less  its  pastor.  If  after  honestly  accepting 
the  creed  as  a  new  member  he  finds  his  views  later  becoming 
out  of  harmony  with  the  creed  he  would  be  perfectly  honest  in 
preaching  his  own  beliefs  even  though  in  discord  with  the 
creedal  statements  of  the  church.  No  man  can  honestly  prom- 
ise to  believe  in  a  creed  in  perpetuity.  Creedal  acceptance 
can  be  only  a  present  statement.  However,  a  minister  who 
honestly  preaches  his  developing  views  which  happen  to  be 
contrary  to  the  creed  of  his  church  should  frankly  acknowl- 
edge this  discrepancy.  Personally  I  should  wish  to  have  the 
church's  basis  changed  to  the  covenant  basis  if  possible  under 
these  circumstances. 

If  a  minister  finds  himself  out  of  harmony  with  the  creed 
of  his  church  and  the  church  refuses  to  change  its  creed  at  his 
suggestion  I  do  not  think  it  is  honest  for  him  to  remain  pastor 
of  that  church  even  though  he  ' '  still  counts  himself  loyal  to  its 
spirit  and  in  sympathy  with  the  general  content  of  its  faith. ' ' 
I  believe  creedal  acceptance  should  be  total  or  nothing  like  a 
business  contract.  The  all  too  prevalent  habit  of  accepting  a 
creed  "for  substance  of  doctrine"  has  always  seemed  to  me  a 
theological  vice  and  actually  dishonest.  This  is  mainly  my 
reason  for  not  valuing  creedal  tests. 

Prof.  G.  W.  Fiske. 

Oberlin  Theological  Seminary. 

LOYAL  TO  HIS  OWN  CONVICTIONS 

As  regards  the  ministerial  acceptance  of  the  local  creed,  it 
seems  to  me  that  a  minister  should  be  loyal  to  his  own  eonvic- 


340     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

tions  at  any  cost,  and  will  usually  find  it  possible  to  bring  a 
church  to  a  revision  of  its  creed  in  harmony  with  his  own 
principles.  Rev.  Henry  K.  Booth. 

Long*  Beach,  California. 

IF  HE  ACCEPTS  CALL,  LET  HIM  ACCEPT  THE  CREED 

I  cannot  get  away  from  the  feeling  that  a  pastor  has  no 
right  to  accept  the  pastorate  of  a  church  on  the  basis  of  a 
creed  with  which  he  cannot  agree  and  to  which  he  cannot 
conform  in  his  general  teaching.  We  would  hardly  expect 
a  business  man  to  accept  a  position  as  traveling  salesman  for 
the  sale  of  goods  that  he  could  not  heartily  commend,  or  to 
accept  a  political  appointment  on  a  commission  to  accomplish 
a  certain  object  of  which  he  did  not  approve.  The  analogy 
to  me  seems  perfectly  fair  between  the  two  cases  above  and 
that  of  a  pastor  called  to  a  church  to  uphold  and  promote  the 
interests  of  that  church  on  the  basis  of  a  creed. 

James  L.  Barton. 

Secretary  of  the  American  Board. 

academic  freedom  is  HERE  FOR  GOOD 

It  would  be  a  fearful  thing  for  the  church,  and  more 
fearful  for  the  minister  that  he  should  be  compelled  to  teach 
under  pressure  what  he  did  not  believe.  I  am  under  the  im- 
pression that  that  battle  has  been  fought  through.  Academic 
freedom  and  pulpit  freedom  are  with  us  for  good. 

A  judicious  pastor  might  lead  his  church  in  time  to  a 
more  wholesome  view  of  truth,  and  then  help  them  to  adopt 
better  symbols  for  their  faith.  He  should  not  allow  the  church 
to  force  him  to  teach  other  than  the  truth  that  God  has  given 
him,  nor  should  he  indulge  in  mock  heroics  in  using  his  liberty 
in  the  pulpit  to  give  vent  to  what  may  be  only  his  own  eccen- 
tric mis-statements.  Rev.  Augustine  Jones. 

First  Church,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 


THE   MINISTER  AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  341 

SHOULD  PREACH  WHAT  HE  BELIEVES 

A  pastor  should  preach  what  he  believes  to  be  the  truth, 
whether  it  agrees  with  the  creed  or  not.  At  the  same  time  he 
should  respect  the  views  of  others  and  the  doctrinal  attitude 
of  the  church  and  the  denomination  to  which  he  belongs.  This 
does  not  require  the  suppression  of  the  truth,  but  only  courtesy 
and  care  and  Christian  charity, 

A  minister  has  a  right  and  duty  to  remain  in  the  church 
to  which  he  belongs,  even  when  the  creed  of  that  church  does 
not  best  express  his  own  convictions,  stating  frankly,  on 
proper  occasions,  his  o-wti  views,  and  ready  to  withdraw  from 
the  church  when  he  finds  that  he  is  a  stumbling-block  to  others, 
or  is  convinced  that  he  himself  can  live  a  freer  life  or  render 
a  better  sei'vice  elsewhere. 

Prof.  William  H.  Ryder. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary. 

SHOULD  WITHDRAW  RATHER  THAN   DIVIDE  A   CHURCH 

After  having  given  such  dissent  a  reasonable  chance  for 
hearing  in  the  church,  the  pastor,  having  given  his  promise 
to  conserve  tJie  unity  and  common  interest  of  the  church, 
should  probably  withdraw  rather  than  continue  a  vexed  and 
irritated  situation.  This  should  not  be  done  hastily  but  only 
after  fraternal  effort  to  represent  himself  to  his  brethren. 
Having  failed  in  this,  it  is  likely  that  he  can  leave  the  develop- 
ment of  Christian  belief  to  those  who  come  after  him,  and  he 
may  indeed  leave  his  pastorate  in  such  a  noble  way  as  to  win 
out  in  the  very  thing  in  which  he  has  previously  failed. 

Pres.  James  A.  Blaisdell. 

Pomona  College. 

freedom   TO   STUDY   AND   SPEAK 

A  pastor  should  certainly  be  left  free  to  study  and  think 
and  speak  his'  growing  mind  in  the  fear  of  God  alone.    But 


342     CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

he  may  conceivably  diverge  so  far  from  his  people  as  to  pro- 
duce a  difficult  and  harmful  tension  such  as  would  justify 
the  church  in  ending  the  strain.  Then  the  pastor  should  not 
cling  to  his  place  on  the  score  of  freedom  and  of  essential 
loyalty  to  the  spirit  of  his  church.  In  many  such  cases  of 
divergent  holdings,  the  pastor  may  well  stay  and  considerately 
lead  out  into  ampler  pastures.  In  other  cases  his  real  duty 
lies  elsewhere  and  he  may  not  properly  impose  his  thinking 
on  unsympathetic  minds  and  uncomfortable  co-workers.  I 
never  have  had  the  slightest  sympathy  with  a  minister  who 
insisted  on  his  right  to  club  and  drag  into  the  better  path. 

President  C.  S.  Nash. 
Pacific  School  of  Religion. 

LITTLE  ATTENTION  TO   CREEDS 

I  do  not  know  whether  a  pastor  should  be  required  to 
accomodate  his  teaching  to  the  creed  of  the  local  church  or  not. 
I  only  know  that  personally  I  have  never  paid  much,  if  any, 
attention  to  the  creeds  of  the  churches  to  which  I  have  min- 
istered, and  have  never  endeavored  to  revise  any  of  them.  I 
endeavor  to  preach  a  full  and  adequate  gospel  and  to  seek  for 
the  salvation  of  boys  and  girls,  men  and  women,  and  have 
not  worried  about  the  particular  confession  of  faith. 

In  no  church  have  I  ever  asked  the  people  to  assent  to  the 
creed,  but  only  to  the  covenant. 

My  opinion  is  that  most  churches  do  not  know  very  much 
about  their  own  particular  creed,  with  the  exception  of  a 
possible  few  who  imagine  themselves  to  be  defenders  of  the 
faith,  and  who  usually  succeed  in  making  themselves  obnox- 
ious to  all  real  servants  of  Jesus. 

When  people,  young  or  old,  come  before  our  Standing 
Committee  seeking  admission  to  the  church  on  confession  of 
faith,  there  is  just  one  test  question  that  we  always  apply — 
"Do  you  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  is  it  your  pui-pose 


THE  MINISTER  AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  343 

to  sei've  him?"  That  I  believe,  is  the  only  New  Testament 
test,  and  is  the  only  test  that  is  worth  while.  The  Thirty- 
Nine  Articles  and  Westminister  Confessions  have  little  to  do 
with  the  gospel  as  Jesus  preached  it  and  as  it  was  accepted  by 
the  early  disciples. 

In  a  little  catechism  that  I  wrote  and  teach  in  my  Pas- 
tor's Training  Classes,  I  answer  the  question  thus: 

1.  What  are  the  conditions  of  admission  to  the  church? 
Ans.     a.     Repentance,  or  the  renouncing  and  forsaking 

of  sin. 

b.  Faith,  or  the  choice  of  God  as  the  supreme  object  of 
our  love  and  service. 

c.  A  life  that  is  being)  transformed  into  the  likeness  of 
Christ  by  the  performance  of  Christian  duties. 

2.  Are  all  who  belong  to  the  church  perfect? 

Ans.  No.  It  is  composed  of  those  who  desire  to  be  per- 
fect through  the  help  which  God  gives  them. 

3.  How  old  should  one  be  before  uniting  Avith  the  church? 
Ans.     Old  enough  to  know  the  difference  between  right 

and  wrong,  and  to  have  a  desire  and  purpose  to  do  the  right. 

From  the  abov^  you  will  get  some  idea  of  what  my 
thoughts  are  concerning  creeds  and  their  value. 

I  am  willing  that  you  should  make  any  use  of  the  above 
statements  that  you  think  best. 

Rev.  S.  H.  Woodrow,  D.  D. 

Pilgrim  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

MINUTE  CONFORMITY  UNREASONABLE 

With  regard  to  the  relation  of  the  pastor  to  the  creed 
of  the  Church  he  is  serving,  it  is  my  conviction  that  minute 
conformity  to  the  creed  is  not  a  reasonable  requirement.  There 
are  probably  at  least  as  many  creeds  in  existence  as  there  are 
genuine  thinkers.  Every  one  should  be  encouraged  to  do  his 
own  personal  thinking  upon  the  questions  of  Theology.    It  is 


344     CONGREGATIONAL.  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 

of  distinct  value  to  the  Church  to  have  a  creed  of  moderate 
length,  stated  in  as  simple  terms  as  possible,  which  may  well 
be  read  publicly,  preferably  on  Communion  Sundays,  in 
order  to  accustom  the  Church  to  its  own  creedal  relationships ; 
but  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  creed  necessarily  expresses 
the  permanent  and  exact  position  of  either  the  pastor  or  the 
people. 

If  the  minister  finds  his  views  out  of  harmony  with  the 
creed  of  the  Church,  but  is  loyal  to  its  spirit,  there  ought  to 
be,  and  usually  will  be,  no  serious  difficulties  encountered. 
Theological  gymnastics  or  polemics  are  not  as  much  in  evidence 
as  formerly.  A  crusade  against  the  creed  of  one 's  own  Church 
would  be  evidently  an  unbecoming  proceeding.  Attacks  should 
be  made  from  the  outside.  Most  ministers  find  themselves 
better  occupied  in  constructive  endeavors  to  win  men  to  the 
service  of  Christ  and  to  the  cause  of  righteousness,  rather 
than  to  be  aiming  their  attacks  at  any  creed. 

The  difficulties  regarding  creed  subscription  are  largely 
temperamental  rather  than  theological.  A  spirit  of  conceit 
or  of  superior  wisdom,  whether  on  the  part  of  the  pasitor  or 
the  members  of  the  Church,  must  lead  to  unfortunate  compli- 
cations, but  these  complications  can  easily  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum  if  either  party  will  cultivate  a  sympathetic  and 
serene  temper. 

Pres.  Edward  D.  Baton. 

Beloit,  College,  Beloit,  Wis. 

TRUE  TO  HIS  OWN   CONVICTIONS 

In  many  cases  90  per  cent  of  the  congregation  do  not 
accept  the  creed  as  it  stands.  The  pastor  must  be  true  to  his 
own  convictions  of  truth,  cut  where  they  will.  He  must  be 
kind,  considerate  and  above  all  things  fair.  In  time  he  may 
well  hope  to  remodel  the  creed  until  it  come  into  line  with 
modem  views.    Creeds  and  Covenants  deal  with  metaphysical 


THE   MINISTER  AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  345 

and  ethical  questions.  Now  in  neither  of  these  realms  can  we 
do  more  than  make  a  few  simple  statements.  Still  some  kind 
of  statement  should  be  made  to  express  the  end  and  ideal  of 
faith.  But  great  liberty  must  be  allowed  and  much  charity- 
extended  lest  in  our  attempt  to  unite  and  inspire  men,  we 
divide  and  antagonize  them. 

Rev.  Robert  E.  Brown. 
Second  Church,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

REASONABLE  ELASTICITY 

I  think  the  inconsistency  of  a  pastor  being  at  variance 
with  the  creed  of  his  church  would  be  such  that  he  ought  not 
to  continue  as  the  pastor,  certainly  not  if  his  holding  of  the 
position  is  a  tacit  implication  of  his  assent. 

Concerning  the  duty  of  a  minister  who  finds  his  views 
not  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  creed  of  his  church,  but  still 
counts  himself  loyal  to  its  support  and  in  sympathy  with  the 
general  content  of  its  faith,  I  think  a  i^asonable  elasticity 
should  be  permitted,  on  the  principle  that  the  letter  killeth 
and  the  spirit  maketh  alive. 

Rev.  H.  p.  Dewey,  D.  D. 

Plymouth   Church,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

LIBERALITY  AND  LOYALTY 

A  pastor  should  have  large  liberty,  so  far  as  detaili  of 

creed  are  concerned,  so  long  as  he  manifests  a  spirit  that  ii 
clearly  loyal  to  the  fundamental  teachings  of  Christ. 

Pres.  Henry  C.  King. 
Oberlin  College,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

HAVE  SMALL  FAITH   IN   LARGE   CREED 

The  pastor  should  be  in  accord  with  the  creed  of  his 
church,  or,  if  he  does  not  believe  in  it,  he  should  try-  to  change 
it,  or  go  somewhere  else.    I  have  come  to  attach  small  faith 


346  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  METHODS 

to  a  large  creed.  We  receive  disciplesi  into  the  church  on 
confession  of  their  belief  in  Jesus  as  their  redeemer  and 
friend,  and  their  promise  to  tiy  to  follow  Him.  I  would,  per- 
haps change  the  phraseology  of  our  covenant  some,  but  have 
not  thought  out  any  thing  different.  If  I  did  any  thing,  I 
would  simply  make  it  simpler,  without  removing  the  funda- 
mentals. 

Rev.  Charles  M.  Sheldon,  D,  D. 
Central  Congregational  Church,  Topeka,  Kan. 

IGNORE  MINOR  POINTS 

Both  pastor  and  members  may  well  ignore  minor  theo- 
logical points  upon  which  pastor  and  creed  do  not  agree,  but 
if  he  differs  radically  and  fundamentally  from  the  essential 
points  of  a  church  creed  he  ought  in  fairness  to  himBclf  and 
them  to  seek  another  church  connection.  At  any  event  every 
honest  man  is  bound  to  teach  only  that  which  he  believes. 

Pres.  H.  K.  Warren. 

Yankton  College,  Yankton,  S.  D. 


absolute   agreement   seldom   POSSIBLE 

A  pastor  should  be  able  to  accept  heartily  the  standards 
of  the  church  he  sei'ves,  but  absolute  agreement  in  all  details 
is  seldom  possible.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  pastor  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  give  himself  to  the 
practical  work  of  his  ministry,  and  trust  experience  to  bring 
about  all  the  harmony  of  conviction  that  is  necessary.  Accord- 
ing to  circumstances,  his  duty  may  vary  all  the  way  from 
seeking  new  light  for  himself,  to  an  attempt  to  lead  the  church 
to  revise  or  change  its  creed.  A  Congregational  minister  has 
no  more  right  to  force  his  own  individual  opinions  upon  the 
church  as  a  Avhole  than  any  other  brother.    If  there  is  a  hope- 


THE  MINISTER   AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  347 

less  difference  of  opinion,  it  is  his  duty  to  go  elsewhere  and 
leave  the  church  in  peace. 

Charles  E.  McKinley. 
Central  Congregational  Church,  Galesburg,  111, 

WIDE    LIBERTY    DESIRABLE 

No  creeds  in  the  Congregational  Church  have  ever  been 
set  forth  for  ministers  as  tests  of  conformity.  They  have  rather 
been  presented  as  expressions  of  what  is  generally  believed 
among  us.  They  should  never  be  pressed  as  tools  of  theologi- 
cal inquisition.  A  minister  who  finds  his  views  not  in  hannony 
with  the  creed  of  his  church  has  the  alternatives  upon  him  of 
trying  to  show  that  his  view  of  truth  is  more  comprehensive 
than  that  which  is  recorded  in  the  creed.  This  is  his  bounden 
duty,  and  yet  common  sense  must  instruct  him  as  to  whether  he 
should  press  his  views  or  give  the  right  of  way  to  the  more 
general  belief. 

Personally,  I  feel  that  our  Congregational  body  should 
stand  for  the  v/idest  liberty  of  thought  in  relation  to  the 
fundamentals  of  religion.  I  believe  it  is  entirely  practicable 
in  our  day  to  have  a  form  of  confession  of  faith  which  is 
entirely  free  from  theological  implication  of  any  controversal 
order. 

Rev.  Charles  Francis  Carter. 

Immanuel  Congregational  Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 

every  man  has  a  creed 

A  minister,  to  be  happy,  would  have  to  be  in  general 
accord  with  the  fundamental  beliefs  of  his  church  and  de- 
nomination. I  do  not  think  he  should  be  required  to  accept 
the  creed  of  a  given  church. 

A  man  who  finds  himself  loyal  to  the  spirit  of  the  creed 
and  in  sympathy  with  the  general  content  of  the  faith  of  his 


348  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  METHODS 

church  should  not  worry  too  much  about  subtle  distinctions, 
but  put  himself  into  the  work  of  the  church  with  earnestness 
and  enthusiasm. 

The  question  of  creed  troubles  me,  personally,  very  little. 
I  am  too  busy.  I  repeat  mth  reverence  the  ancient  creeds, 
as  venerable  symbols  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the 
historj^  of  the  past.  When  I  go  into  a  cathedral,  I  do  not  throw 
stones  through  the  windows,  as  my  Puritan  ancestors  did.  I 
am  not  in  sympathy  with  the  creed  of  the  builders  nor  of  the 
present  occupants  of  those  cathedrals,  but  I  reverence  with 
all  my  soul  the  ancient  and  splendid  symbol.  I  do  not  tear 
up  the  ancient  creeds  because  I  would  not  phrase  my  belief 
in  the  same  way. 

Every  man  must  have  a  creed,  but  if  it  is  to  be  of  very 
much  value  it  must  not  be  a  belief  taken  over  from  the  people 
of  some  former  generation.  What  we  need  in  the  church  to-day 
is  not  a  re^^val  of  pettifogging  discussion  about  the  minutiae 
of  theological  distinctions,  but  a  determination  to  build  upon 
this  earth  the  Kingdom  of  God,  to  set  up  here  the  shining 
City  of  God. 

Rev.  Newton  M.  Hall,  D.  D. 

North  Church,  Springfield,  Mass. 

ACCEPT  THE  CREED  OR  GET  A  BETTER  ONE 

If  a  minister  finds  himself  out  of  harmony  with  the  creed 
of  his  church  but  loyal  to  its  spirit,  he  should  come  to  a  definite 
understanding  with  his  church  about  his  own  relation  to  its 
creed. 

He  should  either  be  definitely  relieved  of  the  responsibi- 
lity of  appearing  to  sanction  it  when  he  does  not,  or  he  should 
get  it  abolished  and  replaced  by  a  better  creed  or  he  should 
find  a  church  which  has  a  creed  which  he  can  accept. 

Ukv.  Carl  S.  Patton,  D.  D. 

Columbus,  Ohio. 


THE   MINISTER   AND   CREED   SUBSCRIPTION  349 

CHURCH  MUST  NOT  CONSTRAIN   MINISTER 

A  cliurch  may  determine  what  theology  it  may  or  may 
not  hear,  but  it  has  no  right  to  constrain  its  pastor  in  his 
preaching.  It  should  in  deed  urge  him,  and  be  eager  to  attend, 
to  such  message  as  he  presents  of  the  trath  of  which  he  is 
passionately  convinced.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  min- 
istry of  a  sincere  man  is  invaluable,  that  progress  comes  only 
through  seeing,  things  from  a  new  view  point.  A  limited 
ministiy  cannot  be  either  powerful  or  progressive.  The  church 
has  invariably  lost  when  it  has  driven  out  or  checked  teaching 
not  in  hannony  with  its  accepted  creeds  or  opinions.  Eccen- 
tricity, or  foolishness  need  not  be  tolerated,  but  pointing  in- 
tellectual and  moral  competency  the  ministry  of  a  man  at 
odds  with  the  creeds  should  be  received  and  even  cherished. 
Loyalty  to  conviction  is  the  chief  asset  of  the  pulpit.  In  any 
case  there  will  be  more  points  of  contact  than  of  difference  to 
justify  retention.  Some  of  our  most  efficient  ministers  are 
men  whose  ideas  are  not  exactly  that  of  our  creeds. 

In  case  of  conscientious  and  sincere  disagreement,  where 
the  minister  feels  he  has  a  better  view,  he  should  wisely 
present  it.  Truth  usually  has  a  fashion  of  preparing  its  own 
way.  Jesus  did  not  sever  himself  from  the  worship  or  institu- 
tions of  his  day,  but  used  these  as  a  point  of  contact  with  his 
own  teaching,  and  his  example  in  this  particular  is  invaluable. 

Rev.  Andrew  Ogilvie. 

First  Church,  Elkhart,  Ind. 

SHOULD  TEACH  ONLY   WHAT   HE  BELIEVEg 

A  pastor  should  teach  and  preach  only  what  he  honestly 
and  sincerely  believes.  Any  accomodation  savors  of  dishon- 
esity,  and  is  sure  to  betray  itself  sooner  or  later,  by  the  hollow 
ring  of  insincerity. 


350  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  METHODS 

If  the  church  makes  an  issue  of  conformity  to  its  creed, 
and  the  differences  between  the  creed  and  the  pastor's  views 
cannot  be  taken  care  of  by  tolerance  on  both  sides,  and  an 
agreement  that  the  differences  are  not  vital,  I  should  seek 
another  field.  If  by  "church"  is  meant  not  an  individual 
congregation,  but  an  entire  denomination,  the  same  procedure 
would  still  be  applicable. 

On  the  whole  my  feeling  is  that  confomiity  to  a  creed  is 
something  that  should  have  wide  and  generous  margins.  The 
truth  is  too  big  to  be  comprehended  by  any  creed.  They  are 
passing  symbols,  bound  to  be  replaced  by  new  ones  as  the 
spirit  of  truth,  that  guides  into  all  truth,  leads  Christian 
thought  and  experience  into  larger  knowledge  and  deeper 
insights.  Failure  to  perceive  this  leads  perennially  to  the 
exaltation  of  dead  dogmas  above  vital  ethics  and  morality. 
Thus  a  symbol  that  is  very  valuable  as  a  general  rallying- 
point  for  a  body  of  believers  maj^  become  a  means  of  disper- 
sion. Or,  to  use  a  different  figure,  the  child  is  drowned  in  the 
font  prepared  for  its  baptism. 

Prof.  William  Frederic  Bade. 
Pacific  School  of  Religion. 

THINGS  NEW  AND  OLD 

It  is  the  business  of  the  pastor  and  teacher  to  bring  forth 
things  new  as  well  as  old  out  of  his  treasure  house.  He  there- 
fore ought  to  be  progressiA^e  and  say  things  at  times  that  his 
people  would  not  believe. 

"While  the  liberty  of  the  pulpit  involves  a  wide  latitude 
and  patience  on  the  part  of  a  congregation,  if  a  pastor  finds 
himself  essentially  out  of  accord  with  the  doctrinary  standards 
of  his  church,  and  so  vitally  at  variance  with  it  that  he  can- 
not hope  to  lead  his  people  intellectually  in  the  direction  his 
mind  is  going,  he  ought  to  seek  another  pastorate,  for  his  min- 


THE  MINISTER  AND  CREED  SUBSCRIPTION  351 

istry  can  never  produce  anything  but  discord.  It  has  always 
seemed  to  me  that  the  root  of  the  difficulty  lay  in  the  concep- 
tion that  church  membership  was  supposed  to  involve  con- 
siderable attainment  in  theological  knowledge,  as  though  the 
church  were  a  body  of  graduate  scholars.  It  is  rather  an 
inclusive  school  for  a  great  many  grown-ups  who  are  not  be- 
yond the  kindergarten  stage  of  religious  thinking. 

Rev.  William  Horace  Day,  D.  D. 
The  United  Church,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

CREEDS  SHOULD  NOT  BE  FORCED 

In  its  relation  to  its  pastor  if  a  confession  of  faith  has 
been  prepared  and  is  part  of  the  trust,  the  church  must  de- 
termine whether  the  pastor  is  loyal  to  all  vital  elements  in  it 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  pastor  must  determine  whether  he 
honestly  believes  the  vital  contents  of  the  confession.  If  the 
trust  cannot  be  fulfilled  in  all  vital  elements  the  pastorate 
should  be  dissolved.  I  believe,  however,  that  where  the  min- 
ister is  a  real  Christian  denving  his  life  from  Christ,  and 
walking  daily  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  difficulties  are  not  likely 
to  arise.  If  because  of  the  nature  of  the  creed  such  a  Chris- 
tian pastor  is  compelled  to  withdraw  there  is  no  reflection  on 
him.  The  reflection  is  on  the  church  which  has  departed  so 
greviously  from  the  law  of  Christ. 

There  is  no  more  serious  departure  from  the  spirit  of 
Christ  and  the  way  of  Christ  than  is  to  be  found  in  the 
formulation  of  doctrinal  statements  by  individuals  or  coteries 
with  the  intention  of  forcing  them  upon  their  brethren  in  their 
own  generation  and  possibly  till  the  end  of  time.  The  effort  is 
treasonable.  Chinst  is  the  only  head  of  the  church.  He  is 
not  remote  but  living,  present,  regal  in  the  felloAvship  of  His 
believers.  His  spirit  guides  into  all  truth,  bringing  all  things 
to  the  remembrance  of  those  who  obey  Him.  As  many  as  are 
led  by  the  spirit  of  God  are  the  sons  of  God.     To  act  as 


352  CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  METHODS 

though  Christ  were  absent,  to  make  acceptance  of  philosoph- 
ical, and  sometimes  emotional,  phrases,  the  basis  of  the  church 
is  to  commit  treason  against  the  Lord  Himself.  It  reduces  the 
church  to  the  level  of  other  institutions.  It  ultimately  leads 
men  to  prefer  lodges:,  societies,  cults  that  appear  to  them  to 
be  more  modern  and  reasonable.  Had  we  been  true  to  the  posi- 
tion taken  by  our  brethren  250  years  ago  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  gates  of  hell  could  have  prevailed  against  us.  ' '  We  do  not 
look  for  agreement  of  others  with  our  opinions  so  much  as 
for  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  each  man's  daily  walk  and  conver- 
sation."   The  essence  of  success  lies  in  loyalty  to  Christ. 

Rev.  John  Gardner,  D.  D. 
New  England  Church,  Chicago. 

LET    HIM    TELL   THE    CHURCH 

Creeds  not  being  properly  definitive  or  exclusive,  but  the 
outgrowth  of  experience,  should  be  unitive.  But  unfortunate- 
ly they  are  not.  The  great  historic  creeds,  with  the  partial 
exception  of  the  Apostles',  are  theological,  not  experiential, 
and  will  not  help  us  much  toward  union, — not  nearly  as  much 
as  the  hymns.  Perhaps  as  the  churches  move  toward  unity 
they  will  work  out  a  simpler,  sweeter,  stronger  unifying  creed, 
but  not  unless  they  base  it  upon  a  common  experience.  As 
to  the  pastor  of  a  church  which  has  a  creed  to  which  he  cannot 
honesty  assent,  in  whole  or  in  part,  why  should  he  not  say 
frankly  to  the  church,  "I  can  not  assent  fully  to  this  creed. 
Shall  I  go  ? "  Is  there  a  church  on  earth  that  would  answer : 
*  *  Go  ? ' ' — provided  there  was  no  other  reason. 

Prof.  John  Wright  Buckham. 

Pacific  Theological  Seminary. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Lyman 173-179 

Abernethy,  Henry  C 161 

Act  of  Union 198,  199 

Adams,  George  M 162 

Ainsworth,  Henry 108 

Albany  Convention 142 

Alden,  Edmund  K 173,174 

Allen,  George 156 

American  Board  Controversy  174 
Amsterdam  Confession,  1596.. 105 

Anabaptists    19 

Anderson,   Asher 200 

Andrews,  Israel  W..  .163,  173,  179 

Apostles'  Creed 214,  261 

Arber,  Edward 48,  49 

Arius 259,  260,  261 

Art  and  Idolatry  273 

Assent  to  Covenant,  Audible 

or  Tacit 208 

Athanasian  Creed   

249,  250,  253,  254 

Ayre,  Franklin  D 162 

Bacon,  Leonard  143,  162 

Bacon,  Leonard  W 

52,  68,  70.  139,  140 

Bade,  Wm.  P 351 

Baillie,  Robert 62 

Baker,  Newton  D 287 

Balkam,  Uriah 150 

Ballantine,  W.  G 311 

Bangor  Confession 209,  216 

Baptism   and   Church   Mem- 
bership       68 

Baptismal  Covenant  224 

Baptist   Churches  and  their 

Covenants 18,  45,  207 

Barnard,   S.   S 147 

Barnes,  A.  S 161 

Barrington,  Lord  297 


353 


Barrowe,  Henry 40,  42,  105 

Barstow,  Amos  C 162 

Bartlett,  Samuel  C 125,  168 

Barton,  James  L 340 

Barton,  Wm.  E 202,  203 

Beard,  Augustus  F 173,  179 

Beckwith,  Clarence  A 251-252 

Beardsley,  Henry  H 203 

Berkeley,  Calif.  Covenant  ...102 

Bicknell,  F.  W 162,  163 

Blair,  Samuel  85,  112 

Blaisdell,  James  A 324,  341 

Bonam,  Wm 3i 

Booth,  Henry  K 340 

Bowdoin  Street  Church 216 

Boston,  First  Church,  81 ;  Second 
Church,  82;  Third  Church  (Old 
South),  69,  211.  212;  Park  St., 
211,  212.  214-217;  Shawmut, 
85;  Central,  90;  Federal  St., 
211;  Essex  St.,  216;  Pine  St., 
216;   Mt.  Vernon,  216. 

Boynton,  George  M 301 

Boynton.  Nehemiah 202,  203 

Bradford,  William.. 29,  49,  59,  75 

Bradshaw,  J.  W 202 

Brainerd,  James  S 162 

Bredwell,  Stephen 44 

Bremner,  David   154 

Brewster,  Wm.  48,  50, 108. 110,228 
Bridgeport,  Conn.  Covenant.  .103 

Bristol,  A.  G 147 

British  Museum 27,  78 

Britannica,  Encyclopedia   ...   53 

Bromhead,  Hugh    43 

Brookline,  Covenant 216 

Brooks,  Raymond  C 325,  334 

Browne,  Robert   34,  36 

37,  38,  39,  40,  41,  105,  106,  207 
Brown.  Robert  E 309.  345 


354 


CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 


'  1 


Bryce,  James 54 

Buck,  Daniel   75 

Buckingham,  Governor  G.  W.  156 

Buckham,  John  W 318,  352 

Buddington,  Wm.  1 163,  165 

Burial  Hill  Confession. .  .142-160 

Barrage,  Champlin 

5,  18,  22,  23,  35,  36,  47,  112 

Burroughs,  Jeremiah   77 

Burton,  H 12,  75,  77,  293 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Council. .  .270 
Cambridge  Platform  of  1648, 

10,  77,  119 

Cambridgeport  Covenants  . .  .216 

Calkins,  Raymond 203,  328 

Capen,  Samuel  B 203 

Carpenter,  Elisha 168 

Carter,  Chas.  F 347 

Cartwright,  Thomas  29,  40,  42,  45 

Channing,  W.  E 241-244 

Charlestown,  First  Church  . .  10 

Chase,  S.  Angler 162 

Chauncey,  Charles 69 

Chicago     Covenants,     210,     216; 
First   Church,   97;    New   Eng- 
land. 97;  Rogers  Park,  98. 
Chicago  Ministers'  Union  .  .  .  .204 
Chicago    Theological    Semi- 
nary    142 

Churchman,  The  London 254 

Clark,  Calvin  M 307 

Clemens,  Samuel  L 238 

Gierke,  William 39 

Cleveland  Covenants,  216;   First 
Church,  216;  Euclid  Ave.,  97 

Clifton,  Richai  d    48,  49 

Coe,  David  B 173-179 

Commission  of  Nineteen.  .203-206 
Compromise,  in  the  Produc- 
tion of  Creeds 260 

'Confession  of  Faith"  of  1883,  86; 

1895,  87. 
Congregational   Church,   not 
necessarily    a    Church    of 

Congregationalists   9 

Controversv,  Creeds  the  Re- 
sult of  260 

Congregational  Quarterly  . . 

209,   212,   292 

Constructive  Quarterly 263 

Corbett,  John   297 


Cordley,  Richard    173,  179 

Cotton.  John 63-75,  294,  207 

CoAvling,  Donald  J 332 

Cummings,  Preston 293,  297 

Curtis,  W.  A 236,  264,  265-7 

Daggett,  O.  E 156 

Dale,  Robert  W 301 

Dana,  Malcolm 312,  333 

Danforth,  Samuel 71 

Davenport,  John  .  .51,  69,  77,  210 

Davis,  Josiah  G 162 

Day,  Calvin   162 

Day,  William  Horace  ...202,  351 

Dayton  Confession 197,  202 

Dedham  Decision 210 

Denver  Covenants 100,  101 

DesMoines  Covenant 98 

Detroit  Covenant 99,  210 

Detroit  Meeting  of  Commis- 
sion of  Nineteen 204 

Dewey,  H.  P 315,  345 

Dexter   Collection,   Yale   Li- 
brary     105 

Dexter,  Henry  M 29,  34. 

42,    43,    73,    84,    161,    173,    179 
Disruption,     Effect    on     the 

Idea  of  God  277 

Dorcastor,  Nicholas 36 

Drown,  Edward  S 230-235 

Dun.  Covenant  of  1556 24 

Dunning,  Albert  E 314,  329 

Dwight,  Timothy   78 

Dwinell,  Israel   168 

Eaton,  Edward  D.  .  .203,  315,  344 

Eaton,  Samuel 51,  78 

Edinburgh  Covenants 24 

Eddv,  Zachary  173,  179 

Edwards,  Jonathan  . .  .70,  72,  169 
Elasticity    of   Language   in 

Creeds   202 

Elderkin,  Noble  S 307 

Eldridge,  Joseph   149 

Elgin  Association  255,  257 

Eliot,  Chas.  W 54 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England, 

30,  32,  108 

Emmons,  Nathaniel,  .  .12,  40,  169 

Endicott,  John 60 

English  Confessions 180,  197 


INDEX 


355 


English   Congregational 

Churches  Creedless 206 

Eunuch,  Baptism  of 243,  244 

Evans,  Daniel  327 

Examinations     for     Church 

Membership  9 

Exodus,  Effect  on  the  Idea  of 

God 277 

Pairchild,  James  H  ,147,  173,  179 

Felt,  J.  B 51 

Fenner,  Dudley 40 

Ferrers,  Thos 40 

Fisher,  George  P 

143,  147,  173.  179 

Fiske,  D.  T 108 

Fiske,  G.  Walter 339 

Fiske,  John  O 147,  150 

Fitchburg  Covenant 85,  209 

Fitzmillian,  N.  H.  Covenant  .  .213 

Fleet  Prison 31,  105 

Fox,  Daniel  F 312 

Free  Church  Catechism  .  .183-189 

Fuller,  Samuel   59 

Fytz.  Richard  ....29,  31,  33,  105 

Gale,  Nahum   147 

Galesburg,  111.  Covenant  .85,  257 

Gardner,  John  317,  351 

Gaylord,  E.  D 331 

Gilman,  Edward  W.  .162,  209.  213 
Goodell,  Constans  L.  ...173,  179 

Goodwin,  E.  P 173,  174 

Goodwin,  John   74 

Goodwin,  Thomas  74,  77,  294,  295 
Gladden.  Washington  . .  .200,  202 

Grant,  U.  S 289 

Grindal,  Bishop  of  London  . .   30 
Greenwood,  John  40,  42  105,  107 
Guilford,  Conn.  Covenant  of 
1639    51 

Haddon,  Archibald 338 

Halfway  Covenant 67-73 

Hall,  George  E 202 

Hall,  Newton  M 349 

Hamerton,  William 43 

Hammond,  Col.  C.  G.  ...152,  156 

Hanburv,  Benjamin 

76,  77.   78.  126 

Harris.  Samuel  147 

Hart.  J.  C 157 


Hartford.  Halfway  Covenant 
of  1696.  71;  Center  Church 
Covenant,  81. 

Haven.  Joseph 147 

Heads  of  Agreement.  1692  ...   15 

Helwis.  Thos 46,  47 

Hibbert  Journal 249,  253 

Higginson,  Francis 

10,  75,  139,  297 

Higmore,  John  H 267-268 

Hill,  E.  Munson 180 

Hill,  Hamilton  A 85,  212 

"Hiring  and  Firing'  'of  Min- 
isters     269 

Hobart,  L.  S 161,  162,  163 

Holmes,  Samuel 161,  163 

Holy  Spirit  promised  to  all 

believers 258-260,  282 

Hooker,  Thomas 65,  75 

Hooper,  Bishop  John ,  29 

Hopkins,  Samuel   169 

Horton,  Francis  162 

Hough,  J.  W 163 

Howard,  Gen.  O.  0 165 

Howard,  R.  B 161 

Howe,  John  298 

Huckel,  Oliver   203 

Huget,  J.  Percival  331 

Hugo,  Victor 280 

Huntington,  George 217 

Hurd,  Philo  R 161 

Hutchinson,  Thomas 77 

Hyde,  James  T 173,  179 

Illinois  Congregational  Con- 
ference    255,  257 

Image  Worship  and  Creeds 
, 273-278 

Jackson,  Mich.  Covenant  .96,  204 

Jacob,  Henry 32,  43,  207 

Jailer.  Philippian   243.  244 

James  I.,  of  England 42,  108 

Jefferson,  Charles  E 202 

Jerusalem,  Synod  of 259 

Jessey  Records 44 

Johnson,  Captain  Edward, 
"Wonder  Working  Provi- 
dence"   9-11 

Johnson,  E.  P 202 

Johnson,  Francis  

39,  40,  107,  108,  207 


356 


CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 


Johnson,  James  E 173,  179 

Jones,  Augustine  340 

Justin  Martyr  75 

Kansas  City  Creed  

216-218,  203-206 

Karr,  Wm.  S 173,  174 

Kearnie,  James  L 161 

"Kernel  and  the  Husk" 253 

Kelsey,  H.  H 203 

Kerr,  James  25,  26 

Kilbon,  John  L 330 

Kimball,  Frank 203 

King,  Henry  C 315,  345,  262 

King,  Peter   77 

Kingman,  Henry 322 

Kirbye,  J.  E 324,  336 

Knox,  John   24 

Ladd,  George  T 173,  179 

Laird,  W.  H 202 

Lawrence,  Edward  A 

123,  124,  143,  147 

Leach,  James  A 162 

Leavitt,  George  R 283-286 

Leavitt,  Joshua 151 

Lechford,  Thomas  63,  78,  207,  297 

Leeds,  Samuel  P 173,  179 

Leyden,  Pilgrims  in  50,  56 

Liberty,   Personal   and   Cor- 
porate   230 

Lincoln,  Abraham  245 

Lincoln,  Nebr.  Covenant  ....101 

Locher,  Hans 22 

London  Confession  of  1689  ..105 

Lodge,  Henry  C 54 

Long  Beach,  Calif.  Covenant  .   85 

Lummis,  E,  W 253 

Lyon,  James  H 162 

Mackenzie,  W.  D.  . .  .199,  200,  202 

Magoun,  Geo.  P 161 

Marshall,  T.  R 238 

Mary  Tudor,  Queen  of  Eng- 
land   29,  32 

Mather,  Cotton,  48,  49,  75,  78,  124, 
130,  139,  143,  169,  209,  236,  294, 
297. 

Mather,  Increase 77,  122,  130 

Mather,  Richard 64,  112,  293 

Mather,  Samuel   ,  77 

Mayflower  Compact 53,  58 

McCall,  Henry  S 162,  163 


McKenzie,  Alexander  ...173,  179 
McKinley,  Charles  E.  . .  .323,  347 

Mead,  Charles  M 173,  179 

Mead,  Hiram  163 

Memorial  Hall,  London 31 

Merriman,  Wm.  E.  .  .162,  163,  165 
Michigan  City  Convention  . .  .142 
Middleburg,  Holland  36,  38,  39,  40 
Milford  Church  Covenant  ...296 

Milligan,  Henry  F 327 

Mills,  Charles  S 202,  203 

Mills,  W.  W 203 

Morgan,  C.  C 202 

Morgan,  Chas.  L.  ...202,  255-257 

Morley  on  Compromise  247 

Mooar,  Geo 173,  179 

Morse,  Jedediah  299 

Morton  .Nathaniel 50,  297 

Moxom,  Philip  S 202 

Murton,  John 43,  46,  47 

Muskegon,  Mich.,  Covenant  . .  .85 

Nash,  C.  S 202,  203,  342 

Nation,  The  New  York 267 

Neal,  Daniel 73 

New  Haven,  Church  Organi- 
zation,  10;    Covenants,   210 

Newman,  John  Henry 253 

New  School    213 

Newton,  Mass 85,  91,  93 

New  York  General  Associa- 
tion   162 

Nicene  Creed  . . .249,  259,  260-261 

Nichols,  J.  R 336 

Norwich,  Conn.,  Covenant  . .  .209 
Norwich,    Robert    Browne's 

Church 38 

Novalis    235 

Noyes,  D.  J 147 

Noyes,  E.  M 323 

Oakes,  Urian  122 

Oak  Park  Creed  and  Cove- 
nant   217,  227 

Oberlin  Declaration 161-172 

Obsolete  Laws  and  Creeds.. 

286-290 

Ogilvie,  Andrew 308,  350 

Ohio  General  Conference  . . .  .162 
Old  Testament,  Basis  of  Cov- 
enant Idea 20  seq. 

Osborne,  Naboth    330 


INDEX 


357 


Ottumwa,  Iowa  Covenant 85 

Owen,  John 77,  294 

Palimpsest,  Creed  A, :  .290 

Palmer,  Ray 161 

Park,  Edwards  A 147,  151 

Parker,  Chas.  C 1212 

Parker,  Henry  E 162 

Patten.  Carl  S 310,  349 

Patton,  William  W 

151,  161,  173,  179 

Penrose,  S.  B.  L 202 

Perry,  A.  T 202 

Perry,  John  H 202 

Person,  H.  Grant 316 

Peter,  Hugh  112,  113,  208 

Perth,  Covenant 24 

Pilgrim  Covenant  57,  79 

Pilgrim  Memorial  Convention  162 

Phillips,  Geo.  W 163 

Plan  of  Union 142,  213 

Platner,  John  W 314 

Pliny,  Letter  to  Trajan 21 

Plumbers'  Hall  Congregation 

30,  105 

Plymouth,  Mass.  and  Burial 

Hill  Confession 154-18'0 

Post.  Truman  142 

Potter,  R.  H 203 

Presbyterianism  and  Congre- 
gationalism  213 

Prince,  Thomas 275 

Proctor.  H.  H 202 

Prophet.  The  Minister,  A,  267,  270 

Proselytes  of  the  Gate 21 

Provincetown,  Mass 53 

Prynne,  Wm 12,  75,  77,  293 

Quadrilateral,  Elgin 256 

Quincy,  Josiah   130 

Quint.  A.  H.,  143,  152,  153,  157- 
160.  161-167,  236,  283,  299. 

Rainey,   Principal    235 

Rathband,  Wm 16,  62,  113 

Raymond,  Rossiter  W 202 

Redford,  George 180 

Reformation 18 

Reforming  Synod  of  1679-80  .121 

Renewal  of  Covenant 208 

Rice,  J.  H.  J 317,  337 

Rix,  Joseph   208 


Robbins,  Alden  B 173.  179 

Robinson.  John.  43.  46,  48.  50.  76. 
105.  110.  140.  228,  298. 

Rockford,  111 255 

Rogers  Park,  Chicago   255 

Roman  Catholic  Faith 247 

Roosevelt,  Theodore  53 

Ross,  A.  Hastings  .  .162,  302,  303 

Rotterdam  Covenant 113 

Rutan,  C.  H 202 

Ryder,  W.  H 323,  341 

Sabatier,  August 258 

Salem  Covenant,  of  1629,  10,  60, 
75,  79;  of  1636,  80;  of  1665,  70, 
113-117. 

Saltonstall,  Gurdon 131 

Sanders,  Frank  K 203 

Sandys,  Edwin 50 

Savage,  G.  S.  F 147 

Savoy  Confession,  15,  17,  293,  126, 

180. 
Saybrook  Confession  .15,  128-137 

Scotch  Covenants  24  seq. 

Scrooby  Covenant 10 

Seccombe,  Charles  162,  163 

Second  Commandment 273 

Seelye,  J.  H 173,  179 

Seven  Articles 109 

Sidgwick,  Henry 248,  249 

Sheldon.  Charles  M 309,  346 

Smith,  Daniel  T 292 

Smith,  James  R ".  .326 

Smith,  Ralph  D 162 

Smits,  Bastian    337 

Smyth,  John 43,  48 

Solemn    League    and    Cove- 
nant of  1643 27 

Sprague,  Leslie  W 311 

Sperry,  W.  L 312,  337 

St.  Louis  Covenant 100 

Springfield,  Mass.  Covenants, 

94,  95 

Stiles,  Ezra   298 

Stimson,  H.  A 203 

Stoddard,  Charles 156,  162 

Storrs,  H.  M 143 

Strong,  J.  W 163 

Swain,  Leonard 147 

Taft,  W.  H 27.  53 

Tanner,  A.  A 312,  335 


358 


CONGREGATIONAL  CREEDS  AND  COVENANTS 


Tappan,  Benj 162 

Taunton,  Covenant  of  1705,  71,  72 

Taylor,  Nathaniel  W 78,  169 

Test  and  Testimony 

255-257,  292-303 

Thirty-nine  Articles   22S 

Thompson,  J.  W.  . .  .143,  147,  150 

Tobey,  Edward  S 161 

Tompkins,  B.  W 161 

Torrington  Covenant 210 

Trajan,  Emperor   21 

"True  Confession" 108 

"True  Description"  105 

Trumbull,  Henry  C 19 

Twain,  Mark 238,  240 

Tyler,  Bennet   169 

Tyre,  Synod  of 259 

Unitarian  Controversy  .  .9,  13,  79 

Unity  of  the  Church 166 

Unpopular  Review 229 

Vermilye,  Robert  G 162 

Vial,  Geo.  M 202 

Virgin   Birth   245 

Voss,  James  G 162 

Walker,  C.  J 161,  168 

Walker.  George  Leon,  71,  173,  179 

Walker,  Henry  H 328 

Walker,  Williston,  5,  10,  11,  61, 


72,  105,  107,  108,  115-117,  120- 
122,  128,  132. 

Wallace,  Cyrus  W 162 

Ware,  Henry 298,  299 

Warham,  John 117 

Warner,  L.  C 203 

Warren,  H.  K 346 

Waterbury  Covenant 96 

Watertown  Covenant   81 

Watts,  Isaac  78,  295 

Webb,  Edwin  B 162,  165 

Wellman,  Arthur  203 

Wenham  Confession  of  1644. .     9 
Westminster  Confession  .... 

14,  15,  124 

Whitehead,  John  M 202,  203 

Wier,  x\rchibald   249 

Willard,  Samuel  85 

Wilson,  Woodrow  239,  240 

Windsor,    Creed    and    Cove- 
nant   117,  118 

Winslow,  Edward 48,  49,  60 

Winthrop  Confession  of  1647,      9 
Woburn  Covenant  of  1642,  ...   11 

Wclcott,  Samuel  161 

Wolstenholme,  John  110 

Wonder  Working  Providence 

9,  11 

Woodrow,  Samuel  H.  ...324,  343 
Worcester  Covenant   92 

Yale  University  Library  ....105 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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